Removing Barriers
& Creating Opportunity

The average person spends the largest percentage of their income on housing and the greatest amount of their time at home

The average foster youth

  • Experiences 7 relocations in the foster care system
  • Receives minimal care below the national standard
  • Ages-out without financial nor typical support from family
  • 20% of youth will become unhoused the minute they exit foster care
  • 50% become homeless within 18 months of emancipation
  • Without access to furniture banks or a family to assist with hand-me-down furniture, aged-out foster youth are left without the most basic of human rights- a home.

The average American young adult aged 18 to 24 lives in their parents’ home

  • 58% of young adults live with their parents
  • 59% of parents financially support their children until age 29
  • 60% of this financial support goes towards furniture, homewares, and other housing costs.
  • Only 24% of young adults are financially independent by age 22 
  • Only 47% of young adults are financially independent by age 29

Breaking Down Barriers

ASOH helps to removes the financial, physical, psychological, and health related barriers to creating a home. ASOH breaks down these barriers and helps to advance economic empowerment for youth aging out of foster by providing a home and the necessary tools, resources and opportunities to help them achieve their educational, career, financial and health goals.

Economical

Barrier: The financial means to furnish one’s home.

Gains:
Removing the financial impossibility of furnishing a homes, the targeted grant of over 250 items to create the home gives former foster youth have an equal opportunity at life – with respect to this most basic of human rights, a home.

Community

Barrier: Without community, a foster youth doesn’t have the team that it takes to physically create a home.

Gains:

  1. In less than 90 minutes a home is created, demonstrating that we go further together and the power of teamwork and community.
  2. Youth pay-it-forward, becoming empowered as team members and learning how much they have to offer community.

Health

Barrier: After a life of housing instability, the mental health barrier to creating a home is significant.

Gains:

  1. The scientific community unanimously agrees that a shelter that is fully equipped to function as a home is essential for an individual to maintain good physical and mental health.
  2. A home is the centering place for all humans to manage their emotional & physical well-being, maintain order, organize one’s life to develop and grow productivity and confidence to go out into the world & work to improve one’s life.
  3. Environmental psychology is the scientific study of interrelationships between people and their physical surroundings and how they shape the person. The personalized home design by ASOH improves self-confidence, self-worth, self-esteem and elevates one’s personal goals and the ability to achieve them.
  4. The ASOH process makes the recipient feel heard, understood, valued, and connected to greater humanity – providing stability, hope, and the resolve to achieve career, educational, and health goals.

Youth that have aged out of the foster care system have far greater obstacles to overcome compared to their peers.

A Portal to the Broader Community:

The ASOH Resource Network

  • Without access to their community, aging-out youth often do not know where to turn for basic needs to cover survival let alone advancing educational, career, and health goals.
  • After a lifetime of minimal care, aging-out youth must navigate adulthood without parental guidance whilst being encumbered by trauma and mental health challenges.
  • Youth aging out of foster care require more than their peers in terms of supportive services, yet unlike their peers are without the built-in support of a community to guide them in finding and accessing all that they need.
  • NGO and government support services do not cover all of the basic necessities that a former foster youth needs.
  • Typical digital guides are hard to navigate and reflect outdated information.
  • ASOH analyzes the greatest needs of each youth and provides a customized resource guide tailor-made to meet the unique needs of the individual, making recommendations in supportive services and businesses who offer free resources to advance their education, career, mental health, and overall well-being.
  • The digital ASOH Resource Network affords free access for all support services and is updated weekly to meet the moment and reflect the most up-to-date contact information and offerings.
  • The Resource Network’s cutting-edge services often originate from those who have participated as a volunteer in a Home Creation and then go on to extend their business or services to ASOH youth for free.
  • ASOH welcomes recipients into a network of resilient peers, successful adults, potential employers & referral services.
  • A twice-monthly newsletter, monthly webinars, and a dedicated Instagram account extend a full spectrum supportive network for youth aging out of foster care.

Get Involved

A Sense of Home strives to prevent homelessness by creating first-ever homes for youth aging out of foster care with donated furniture and home goods. 50% of those struggling with homelessness are former foster youth. The homeless crisis can only end through prevention.

DONATE SPONSOR A HOME NOW
Removing Barriers & Creating Opportunities - A Sense of Home
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