“Last night while New Yorkers were home in their beds, over 3,800 young people were homeless in the city-- 1,600 spent the night outside, in an abandoned building or riding a subway train; 150 sold their bodies for food; and some turned to drugs to alleviate the pain of being homeless.”  
 

Youth today want to make a difference and a special career and networking program will help them attain that goal. On March 5, (6PM)  Green Chimneys and the Reciprocity Foundation are holding the second annual “Designing a Better Future” program to give formerly homeless LGBT youth a chance to learn more about “green,” community organizing, social entrepreneurship and digital careers.

These youth from many diverse backgrounds will convene to explore careers in some of the most critical and high-growth areas. Executives and leaders from the Green Economy Sector, Social Entrepreneurship and Community Leadership, and New Media will offer practical tips and strategies for succeeding in their respective fields. Participants will then have the opportunity to learn and practice their professional networking skills during a relaxed and supportive evening. These hopeful teens will learn about informational interviews, how to dress for success, how to make a good first impression, how to build relationships and the secrets of strategic information sharing. 
 
Runaway/Homeless youth programming across the state will be drastically affected by this current  Block Grant.  These programs are vital for young people getting support in preparing for healthy, productive adulthoods. Without the programs, many youth will end up living on the streets, in jail, or developing serious mental health and substance abuse problems. The Block Grant and nationwide budget cuts will seriously limit the funding for these programs and this is a major threat to the future of our cities.  We need to protect grants for youth programs - not give them less!
 
If not for Green Chimneys, these youth would not have a safe place to live and learn the life skills they need to succeed.  You would be truly amazed at how far along many of them are in their chosen careers and projects.  I hope you will agree that this is a critical issue we cannot afford to overlook, no matter how tough the economy.

For more details visit Green Chimneys.

March 5, 2009 at 6 p.m. at Green Chimneys Gramercy location:

327 E. 22nd St. between 1st and 2^nd Avenues.