Park Place marks 40 years of successful outreach to at-risk local youth

 

NOVEMBER marks Youth HOPE Month. This is an awareness campaign created to “shine a light” on the experiences of runaway and homeless youth that remain invisible to the public eye.

Next month is the 40th anniversary of Park Place Outreach Youth Emergency Shelter, a local shelter for at-risk youth. Since 1984, Park Place has served over 6,500 teens in the Savannah community. Teens have a safe, secure, and loving temporary home within Park Place. 

To learn more about Park Place Outreach, I spoke with three key players: Executive Director Adriana Tatum-Howard, Case Manager Kevin Foard, and Street Outreach Specialist Kyle Ward. 

Tatum-Howard said the organization’s mission is to serve at-risk youth. 

“Those that may be runaway homeless or just in need of a safe place, we help them to increase their functional levels and reunify families whenever possible,” she said. 

General communication and socioeconomic issues, substance abuse, and neglect are problems that can lead to teenage homelessness or teens' running away from their homes.

Park Place Outreach is a self-admit agency. Children aged 11-17 can state their reason for running away and receive a general assessment. Youth referred from juvenile court, the school system, and the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) may also stay at Park Place. 

“The reasoning for why they may need services would be based on the assessment process. We identify the history and we identify if they have any special needs. We do counseling services here. We also provide family mediation, and we do prosocial skills. We do several things to meet the child where they're at. It's all individualized services based on the child's needs,” Tatum-Howard said. 

As the Case Manager, Foard said that he assesses a child’s needs by first listening to the parent. Next, he listens to the child. He remarks that the stories never match. He then sits down with his boss to discuss the matter and to see where the problem came in.

Once that is established, it’s up to Park Place to provide services. These services can be outside counseling, counseling with the courts, or the on-site counselor. 

“But a lot of times, once the kids talk to the counselor, the counselor kind of gives us a little bit of feedback about what they think is going on, and then we all come together and try to meet the need at that point,” Foard said.

Park Place relies on its community partners and volunteers for their programming. For example, the children participate in improv sessions at Front Porch Improv. Participating in this acts as a deregulation technique and improves self-esteem.

The youth also work with the Chatham County Safety Net. An individual who does trauma yoga teaches children how to decompress and introduces alternative ways to assist with handling stress. 

Volunteers come in to assist the agency with different activities. There are local permanent community members who assist with "Conversations That Matter."

"Conversations That Matter" is where the youth have an opportunity to receive a different perspective on certain situations. They could be going through something and may not want the perspective of someone who is with them.

Tatum-Howard said that the children are more receptive to the other individual’s perspective. Also, local barbers come in to help the young men with haircuts, while cosmetologists come in to help the girls with their hair needs.

Community sorority members help with gift cards to Walmart or Target so they can get the individual needs that they’re looking for. 

Street Outreach Specialist Ward once resided at Park Place Outreach as a teenager. Upon initially arriving, he did not talk much; however, he slowly started to open up to Foard and gained a new mentor.

Ward said that the agency helped him graduate high school, got him into college, and helped him get his place and his current job as a longshoreman. 

“I would say the wisdom I have is the understanding that you're not the only one that's going through what you're going through. We all come from different backgrounds and different stories. Each one in our life is different. Don't look at it as if you’re the only one in the world who's struggling. Everybody has their problems. I'll say find that person, a case manager or counselor, or one of the staff that you know can come and talk to you. Talk out what you’re feeling, what you have been through, and what you want to do with your life. That's what I'm saying. Have that person in your corner,” Ward said. 

Graduating high school is a key step of the youth’s success stories. Foard said that finishing high school is often on the back burner for the kids because they arrive with a lot of trauma.

During the pandemic, one young man stayed at the agency by himself. He became loved by staff members, but he got in trouble a few times.

He was sent to a school through the Department of Juvenile Justice and focused on schoolwork while there. Foard went to Atlanta to see him graduate, and the young man was excited to see him.

Tatum-Howard said that one young lady had completed their program this past May. She moved to South Georgia, and five staff members from Park Place attended her graduation. 

Foard and Tatum-Howard are working on aftercare activities. When the kids leave the program, they often go back to the environments that they came from. What they want to do is remain a constant in the kids' lives.