This month students from Maple Grove High School hosted a variety show with ticket sales benefiting Brooklyn Avenues. Thank you to all the students who performed and organized the show!
Solcana Fitness is partnering with Avenues now through April through their refer a friend program. For every referral who signs a contract with Solcana, $50 will be donated to Avenues. Plus, they're donating $5 for every prospective member who attends a free class.
Solcana is a Minneapolis based, queer-friendly, social-justice minded, feminist gym designed for folks of all fitness levels and backgrounds.
Check out Solcana here.
Gym Equipment Needed for Health & Wellness
"Most of our youth come with significant experiences of trauma. We know that exercise can help us manage feelings, emotions and stressors of traumatic experiences. It’s important that our programs don’t just address mental health issues in terms of talk therapy, but that we also engage in expressive kinds of therapy. Exercise and movement is one of those expressive therapies," Janet Yates, Avenues' Mental Health Therapist, said.
Minneapolis Avenues' basement, which was remodeled last fall, will be home to a new gym for the 20 youth living there. We hope to complete the gym with weight lifting, yoga and other aerobic exercise equipment.
"A gym would be so beneficial for our youth," Janet said. "The fact is, a gym makes having the possibility of them actually using it and exercising so much easier. It’s another barrier we can get rid of to get the exercise they need."
The goal is to not only provide easy access to health and wellness, both mentally and physically, but also to help with underlying symptoms of anxiety and depression.
"Not being able to sleep is a common symptom I’m hearing from our youth and staff. It’s a symptom of trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Some youth are awake until three or four in the morning," Janet said. "Of course that's going to have a negative effect on their ability to get up in the morning and function at school and at a job. If we have exhausted the body (from exercise), it enables us to fall asleep faster and stay asleep."
The gym is being equipped by donors. If you would like to support it, shop our
Amazon wish list here or call 612-844-2001.
2019 Year In Review
2019 was a big year for Avenues. With our community's support, Avenues provided over 300 youth with emergency shelter, transitional housing and support in 2019. Of the youth that moved out of transitional housing, 81% moved into stable housing. In addition to providing housing and emergency shelter, Avenues:
Opened our drop in hours for LGBTQI+ youth in Minneapolis at its new location
Remodeled Minneapolis Avenues to be more therapeutic and welcoming to youth
Revitalized our in-kind donation program
Launched Abule, a collective housing program for BIPOC youth
Recognized Avenues' 25th anniversary and changed our name to Avenues for Youth
Staff have shared that the revitalized in-kind program had huge impact on youth in 2019. Thanks to generous donors, Avenues was able to provide welcome kits, art therapy bags, and birthday bags to youth.
Welcome kits make youth feel at home and are given to them as part of the intake process. Included in this kits are ethnic specific hygiene products and everything needed for dorm style living. Staff have shared that many of the youth have a moment of disbelief when receiving their kit, and are filled with gratitude when they know it's theirs. Having your own new bedding, pillows and personalized hygiene products is rare among shelters and transitional living programs.
The revitalized in-kind program also changed our emergency bed. In addition to providing overnight clothes, so that youth are able to wash the clothes they came in, youth can take them with them. Having an extra set of clothes can be vital for youth experiencing homelessness.
Impact Opportunity
Attend an Upcoming Event
Attend an upcoming event benefiting Avenues! There is an event for everyone, from a night a brewery to a choir ensemble concert. Click the events below for more information.
