Program Description

HYA uses a variety of time-tested techniques to develop trusting relationships:

Drop-in Center: HYA’s drop-in center is at the core of our services: it is open four hours Monday through Friday and staffed by outreach workers counselors and volunteers. It provides participants with a safe place away from the pressures of the street culture. Participants are able to eat, use the bathrooms, phones, and computers, receive mail, and address any other basic needs. Staff are always present and have both casual and structured interactions with youth. One morning every week, HYA has Women’s Hours at the drop-in, providing safe space and services specific to female-identified program participants (including transgender community members). This space allows participants time to build community among themselves and address women-specific health needs, away from the pressures of a predominately male street population in the Haight.

Street Based Outreach: Daily outreach is the primary means by which staff makes routine contact with their client population. Every day for a minimum of two hours outreach counselors walk down Haight Street and into the neighboring parks, distributing “basic needs” supplies and hygienic supplies. Along with these supplies, outreach counselors distribute educational materials and pamphlets on healthier lifestyle choices and better health information. HYA’s outreach work is motivated by the belief that a person who is hungry or who lacks sleep cannot follow through with the decisions that motivate a lasting behavior change. Outreach is the first phase in establishing trust with the clients, a process that can take months. It is rare for street-involved youth to accept guidance from a community outsider. HYA’s outreach counselors are able to overcome this barrier with their experience and consistency and soon youth begin to seek out staff and participate in other program services. All of HYA’s staff are formerly homeless young people themselves.

One-on-One Counseling Sessions: Once they make contact during outreach, HYA outreach counselors are able to meet clients for one-on-one counseling sessions. Counseling allows both staff and clients time to identify high-risk behaviors, to assess readiness to change these behaviors, and to talk privately about options. During these sessions, staff provide non-judgmental emotional and practical support, demonstrating positive role modeling in settings that are removed from the pressures of the street. Once staff have developed this relationship with a client, youth are much more open to referrals for a broad range of immediate and long term needs. Outreach staff often aid clients in negotiating with government agencies to enroll in state aid programs as well as accessing drug treatment.

Single-Session Groups & Workshops: A series of educational and creative workshops create an ideal opportunity for youth to obtain practical skills, share information with their peers, and experience enhanced confidence as a result. HYA weekly workshops cover a range of topics on both mental and physical health.

Psychotherapy Services:A Psychologist is available at the drop-in center two afternoons a week. As with the outreach counselors, a regular presence and familiarity is essential to engaging youth, many of whom have had negative experiences in the mental health system. Psychotherapeutic services are client driven and therefore may vary in terms focus and setting. Encounters may be crisis oriented, solution focused, supportive, based on symptom management, behavioral change, or insight oriented. Encounter(s) may be a single interaction, used as needed, or on an on-going basis. A private office is available to ensure confidentiality but, based on individual preference, it may take place on the sidewalk, in the park, drop-in center, or at a café. Direct psychiatric services are also made easily available as needed.

Syringe Exchange: Three nights a week HYA operates the city’s only culturally competent needle exchange program for youth. Three of these sites specifically target the young injectors in our neighborhood. This designated time allows participants to not only get clean sterile supplies but also to engage with staff and volunteers in discussions about their use and often gain access to drug treatment. Medical care is also provided at all of these sites.

Community Clean-Up’s: Every month the Beautification Crew, which is composed of 10-20 HYA staff and/or program participants, walk the streets of Haight Ashbury, the east end of Golden Gate and Panhandle Park and surrounding neighborhoods properly disposing of trash, recyclables and syringes. The Beautification Crew is thoroughly trained on protocols of how to properly dispose syringes and response of accidental needle sticks before each session. Participants distribute awareness materials to possible users of syringes and other community residents that describes the proper methods of disposal for syringes. Therefore, while beautifying the community by properly discarding trash, recyclables and syringes, HYA is also preventing future improper disposal of syringes by increasing awareness through educational materials.