TNOYS and our partners Texas Homeless Network, and Texas Homeless Education Office have been hard at work moving the Safety Nets for Students and Families project forward, hosting dozens of training events and awarding over $600,000 in grant funding during the past school year. It is all part of an effort to support schools and community-based organizations… Read more »
Posts By: Sondra Lehmann
Member Spotlight: Our Friends Place
Our Friends Place has been in operation in Dallas for just over 30 years, helping young women in its transitional living centers (TLC) learn the self-reliance and life skills they need to lead successful adult lives. Now, thanks to a new non-residential outreach and education program launched two years ago, the organization is bringing the… Read more »
33rd Annual PEAKS Camp Teaches Youth and Adults Valuable Lessons
For over 30 years, PEAKS Adventure Camp has provided an opportunity for teens in foster care to have a traditional camp experience, learning to overcome challenges and build partnerships with adults as they prepare to enter adulthood. This year, a last-minute budget shortfall threatened to keep TNOYS from hosting PEAKS Camp, but thanks to a… Read more »
DFPS and TNOYS Offer Multi-City Training on Runaway Prevention
In 2017, 1,700 youth in foster care in Texas ran away, and for many it wasn’t the first time they had done so. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has launched an effort to better understand why youth run from care and how they can better support these youth to prevent them… Read more »
TNOYS Member Organizations Share Best Practices at the Texas Capitol
One of the many benefits TNOYS offers our member organizations is assistance making their voices heard in policy decisions that impact their work. Last month, we hosted one of the most important events that helps us do that, our biennial Member Advocacy Day and Innovation & Excellence Showcase at the Texas State Capitol. The day… Read more »
TNOYS Executive Director Joins NN4Y Board of Directors
TNOYS and our members are proud to have led many statewide efforts here in Texas to combat youth homelessness, from conducting the Youth Count! Texas survey to launching Texas’ Statewide Workgroup for Youth Homelessness. But it’s critical that we are also plugged in to efforts at the national level, to ensure that we stay abreast… Read more »
TNOYS Member Organizations Shed Light on Lingering Impacts of Hurricane Harvey
The devastation of Hurricane Harvey was hard to deny in the immediate aftermath of the storm – pictures and videos showed startling images of businesses destroyed and survivors fleeing their damaged homes. Now, just a little over a year after the hurricane hit, the visuals may not be as striking but the impacts are still… Read more »
Professionals and Youth Collaborate at First Statewide Workgroup for Youth Homelessness
The new Statewide Workgroup on Youth Homelessness kicked off its first meeting on October 4, providing a space for state agencies, statewide organizations, and local entities to collaborate on efforts to strengthen services and supports for Texas’ homeless youth. Although the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless addresses the issue of homelessness broadly, there has… Read more »
BCFS System Commits to $25K Gift for 2019 PEAKS Camp, Encourages Others to Help
For more than 30 years, TNOYS has hosted PEAKS Camp – a therapeutic, experiential camp for youth in foster care. PEAKS is one of TNOYS’ longest-running and most successful programs, during which licensed professionals regularly take paid time off to volunteer with and enrich the lives of the youth who attend. The week-long camp experience helps… Read more »
Four Key Youth Engagement Lessons from TNOYS’ Recovery Through Participation Initiative
Research shows that when youth have a voice in decisions that impact their lives, it contributes to their own future success and strengthens the systems that serve them — particularly in the case of those who are recovering from trauma. But for service providers, finding ways to authentically engage youth isn’t always easy. Guided by… Read more »