Housing and Support Services

The primary purpose of the Emergency Shelter Program (ESP) is to provide emergency

shelter services to runaway and homeless youth, ages 16 to 21 who have been forced to

leave their home; cannot live safely with a parent, legal guardian, or relative; have no

other safe alternative living arrangement; or homeless youth who might otherwise

become involved with law enforcement, child welfare, mental health institutions, or the juvenile justice system. This program strengthens and expands our existing service offerings to provide additional support to meet the immediate needs of youth experiencing a housing crisis.

This program provides temporary residential placement and supportive assistance to youth transitioning out of homelessness and in need of housing assistance until they secure employment or another type of suitable

income. Life skills classes, employment training, mentoring, and support groups are

provided. In our 3-phase process of 

assistance, this program prepares youth to transition to stable, permanent housing in one of our apartments.

Permanent Supportive Housing is an intervention that combines affordable housing

assistance with voluntary support services to address the needs of chronically homeless

people. These services are designed to build independent living and tenancy skills while

connecting people with community-based health care, treatment and employment services.

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Permanent Supportive Housing has proven to be an effective solution for Thrive participants who, prior to our program, experienced chronic homelessness. Our investment into Permanent Supportive Housing and supplemental services has helped decrease the number of people returning to homelessness and increase housing stability.

Case Management Services are provided to each Thrive participant. Ongoing assessments take place throughout their time in the program and allow participants to access services, support, and referrals to the

appropriate agencies.

While active in our program, participants receive life skills counseling and training

sessions. Our program staff provides each participant with an individualized

independent living curriculum that offers assistance in developing basic skills such as

cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry, as well as key independent living skills like

completing job applications, interviewing, maintaining employment, college preparation,

money and time management, and meeting housing needs. In order to promote active and social life habits, participants also have an opportunity to experience activities like fishing, kayaking, and hiking as well as social activities such as skating, bowling,

Hersheypark, and beach trips. Life Skills Sessions encourage our youth and young adults to establish systems of work/life balance that will be beneficial to their success now and in the future.

The goal of our Shared Housing Program is to provide safe and affordable housing solutions that lead to long term stability. Individuals are connected to resources that offer the necessary support needed to maintain a stable and permanent housing environment. Shared Housing consists of a formal arrangement in

which two or more unrelated youth share a house or an apartment, but hold separate

leases for each bedroom.

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Thrive conducted a shared housing pilot program to determine the effectiveness of

providing affordable permanent housing to our graduates. All participants successfully maintained permanent housing and are now thriving in the community.