Adam Green Family

As a family with 3 very active teenagers, Melannie and I know that being a teen today is very challenging and much different than it was for us (old) parents.

The Trigger: We saw a Facebook post regarding a family friend of ours whose troubled teen was found at our local County Youth Services Building. We were shocked to read this story and our sadness inspired us to look into this confusing story. Here's what we found:

"At any given time, the Salt Lake Valley has 500 or more homeless youth trying to survive. Last year, the Homeless Youth Resource Center in Salt Lake City saw more than 1,200 teens. Teens between the ages of 15 and 17 years old can’t check into homeless shelters on their own, so many have to find other places to stay warm, from parking garages to closed-down buildings."

"Teens can go to Salt Lake County Youth Services to get overnight shelter and other resources to help stay warm through the winter months. For more, visit www.youth.slco.org."

"The Volunteers of America Utah Chapter is also in the process of raising money to build a shelter for homeless youth. For more information, visit www.voaut.org."

That night, we set a family goal to raise $500 to help the teens in our local area. To be honest, we didn't even know there were homeless teens in our city; how embarassing. Well, we learned. We decided to talk with some caring and resourceful neighbors and came up with a creative Two-Stage Plan:
1. Raise Awareness in December (through Social Media efforts) and 
2. Deliver needed item in January.

As a family we then came up with a grass roots social media campaign utilizing Facebook, Twitter and some Blogging. The little efforts we made as a family through social media really gained some attention. Even the local news told us they would help by writing a story about the teens plight in our city. Obviously, the hope of raising more attention to this sad situation was energizing.

Here is the story:
http://fox13now.com/2013/01/03/homeless-teens-struggling-to-find-warmth-in-cold/

We accomplished our goal.

Our Challenge To You: GET INVOLVED.
Spend an hour (this month) to look in to what you can do to help the teens in your own city. You just might be shocked, like we were. Small efforts are huge since this need is usually under the radar. You can make a HUGE difference with a meager effort.