IN THIS ISSUE
  • New Class of Peer Outreach Workers
  • Holiday Giving Guide
  • Holiday Volunteering
  • Buzz about Ozone House
  • Special Event: Staying Power: Concrete Not Wood
  • Sneak Peek of our new home!
  • Save-the-date for HOME SWEET HOME: February 13th!
What's Happening at Ozone House
Pictured here are our Peer Outreach Workers with members from the community that participated on our Career Panel in October.
NEW PEER OUTREACH WORKERS HIRED

Our new 2019-2020 STREET OUTREACH TEAM , made up of six PEER OUTREACH WORKERS (POWs), began their year long term in late October. The Peer Outreach program began in 1999 for young people age 15-19, that demonstrate leadership qualities and want real experience. The group is made up of approximately 5-8 young people that have attended training at our Peer Outreach Institute, filled out an application, and interviewed for the position (great experience itself).

The POWs main responsibility is to distribute resource and prevention information directly to youth in our community who need immediate assistance. The team goes to locations across Washtenaw County, where youth congregate, to distribute survival kits (food, snacks, bus tokens, personal hygiene products) and information on vital community resources, to more than 2,000 homeless and in-crisis youth annually. They are also leaders and role models within the Drop-In Center community each evening. These amazing young people also gain valuable leadership skills, employment skills and job experience.

Congratulations to the POW class of 2020!
HOLIDAY GIVING GUIDE
Our case managers, family therapists, and Drop-In Center staff have been busy speaking with young people about what they want/need for the holidays!

We need your support to supply gifts for our youth holiday party taking place on December 19th at the Riverside Arts Center. We typically host 100 young people for food, fun and gifts. In many cases, these are the only holiday gifts many of these young people receive.
All other items collected this season are used throughout the year for young people that frequently come through our front door with nothing but the clothes on their back because they left a dangerous family situation.

Your generous in-kind donations provide things like a welcome basket when young people arrive unsure of their futures, bags for transporting their only belongings from place to place, a warm blanket to take home, or a piece of inspirational art they made to inspire them in times of uncertainty.

For our complete holiday giving guide, including our full amazon wish list for the year, click below.
VOLUNTEER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
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BUZZ AROUND TOWN ABOUT OZONE HOUSEE
  • LISTEN: Interview on WEMU Radio with Krista Girty and Bara Youness, SpeakOut member, sponsored by our United Way partnership.

  • READ: Article from CONCENTRATE about our new home, including photos, by On the Ground Ypsilanti.

  • LISTEN: Interview on WEMU Radio about our new home, with Dawn Espy and Bara Youness by On The Ground Ypsilanti.

SPECIAL EVENT - CONCRETE NOT WOOD
Neutral Zone presents, STAYING POWER: CONCRETE NOT WOOD. A multigenre production by Ypsilanti and Richmond youth artists.

"The production will be an evening-long conversation about gentrification and housing injustice that is experienced throughout the U.S.

Hosted by the Neutral Zone, "Staying Power: Concrete, Not Wood," has been jointly created by youth from Ypsilanti, Michigan and Richmond, California. Both historical communities that have faced gentrification and its associated issues and impacts, Ypsilanti and Richmond have been nerve centers of artistic and political action". Read article about event here .

"Staying Power: Concrete, Not Wood" is open to the public. Tickets cost $5 for youth ( anyone younger than 21), $15 for adults and $45 for VIP access.
SNEAK PEEK INTO OUR NEW HOME @
1600 N. HURON RIVER DRIVE
If you have not driven by 1600 N. Huron River Drive lately, you should! Exterior is mostly complete, sidewalks and fences are installed, drywall is up and painting has started inside!

Our new home is located on the northwest corner of N. Huron River Drive and Superior in Ypsilanti. You can't miss the beautifully designed 19,000 square foot, 16 bedroom, ADA compliant home that backs up to the river and is on a city bus line.

Our new home will house young people ages 10-17 in crisis as well as young people ages 17-20 in their own apartment style rooms as they learn to transition into living on their own.

The new home also features many more dedicated counseling rooms, a physicians office, indoor recreational space and outdoor therapeutic rehabilitation space.

If you are looking for other ways to support Ozone House, consider helping us purchase items for our 16 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and 4 kitchens! See our AmazonSmile Charity housewarming list here. (you must sign up as an AmazonSmile customer and designate Ozone House, to access the list. Instructions here.)

If you are interested in giving to our  FRONT DOOR CAMPAIGN , click here for more information.  Be a part of the legacy of our next 50 years! 
For general donations, click below!
SAVE THE DATE: HOME SWEET HOME FEBRUARY 13TH!
Learn More About Ozone House

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To learn more about Ozone House, visit www.ozonehouse.org