Room One, the social services agency in Twisp, has launched its Home Host program to provide safe, stable housing options for youth and young adults in the valley and is offering a series of meetings to acquaint the Methow community with the effort.
“A host home is a community-based option for youth and young adults who are currently experiencing housing instability or who are unsafe in their current living situations,” according to a Room One press release. “Informally, Methow Valley community members have been providing safe places for young people to stay when the need arose. This [Home Host] program is designed to help support those who are doing this in a more formal way.”
According to Ronda Smeltzer, the program’s coordinator, “We know from our own valley, and from other rural communities, that the strategy of pairing young people with community members who can provide safe and stable housing, often gives them the opportunity to complete school, retain jobs, and begin to set goals for themselves beyond survival alone.”
“Living in a host home gives the youth time, space and support to address immediate needs and work towards their personal goals in a safe, supportive environment,” Smeltzer added.
Room One has scheduled a series of community conversations to share more about how host homes have been working in rural areas. In addition to Room One staff, members of the organization’s youth advisory board will share from their experiences what it looks like to creatively navigate safer spaces in the Methow.
The meetings are:
- At the Mazama Community Club on Thursday (May 26) from 4:30-6 p.m.
- Twispworks on Saturday, May 28, from 4-7 p.m.
- At the Jupiter restaurant in Winthrop, on Thursday, June 9, from 4-5:30 p.m.
For more information, email ronda@roomone.org or call (509) 997-2020.
