In Cambridge, a haven for the young homeless

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/17/harvard-square-temporary-haven-for-young-homeless/IGIPtf2et3dCMrza5ksjTK/story.html



Y2Y volunteer directors Abby Harris and Needham Hurst worked in the sleeping area at Y2Y Harvard Square shelter in Cambridge.

In Cambridge, a haven for the young homeless
By Dugan Arnett Globe Staff March 18, 2016

CAMBRIDGE — The guests began arriving after dark, shouldering frayed backpacks, lugging skateboards or guitars. Some arrived quietly, slipping through the side door of the First Parish church in Harvard Square. Others lingered in the chilly night air, pulling from cigarettes and making small talk.

Eventually, however, they all made their way inside, down a flight of stairs, past a jovial and thorough security guard, and into a basement where the city’s unlikliest social experiment was playing out: a shelter designed for homeless millennials.

The brainchild of a pair of recent Harvard graduates, Sam Greenberg and Sarah Rosenkrantz, Y2Y Harvard Square serves a unique homeless demographic: 18-to-24-year-olds.

Their paths to homelessness — and to the shelter — are varied, though Greenberg says most fall into one of three categories. There are those who fled abusive or neglectful home situations. Others grew up in foster care and transitioned out without the skills or support to make it on their own. And a significant number are members of the LGBTQ community who, finding a lack of family support, elect to leave home altogether.