Freeport West Inc
Background and Purpose
Freeport West Inc (Freeport) was founded in 1970 as a shelter for runaway teenagers in Minneapolis. Over the years it has grown to become a multifaceted, community-based human services organization that works with youth and families most likely to experience poverty, oppression, institutionalization, and violence. Its mission is "to support the efforts of families and communities to create environments where all children thrive."
Freeport's major programs are Community Connections, which works with families and youth in local emergency shelters; Project Solo, which supports homeless/at-risk teens by teaching them life skills; Freeport Family Works, which helps families with children at risk of neglect and abuse; and StreetWorks, a collaborative of ten youth-serving agencies in the Twin Cities committed to meeting the needs of runaway homeless and at-risk youth.
Current Request
Freeport has had a long history of successfully working with youth in the Twin Cities. Over the past several years Freeport has seen an increase of youth from Ramsey County traveling to Freeport's Minneapolis site to receive services, and Freeport has had ongoing discussions with the homeless prevention staff from Ramsey County about this.
Given the increasing number of homeless youth in Ramsey County, Freeport is requesting funds to expand its Project Solo to the Selby-Dale neighborhood of Saint Paul. All youth who participate in Project Solo are assigned a case manager, who works with the youth to develop an individual case plan. The plan includes formal life skills training, which includes training in five areas: money management, employment, housing, education, and health and well-being.
The case manager also offers referrals to other resources for needs such as medical care, mental health services, chemical dependency counseling and family reunification.
Project Solo is an all-encompassing program that meets youth where they are and moves them away from the streets and toward self-sufficiency. The building that will house the new program also has six units of housing that Freeport plans on converting over the next several years to transitional living units for older youth. Project Solo will work with youth ages 13-21 and plans on serving 100 youth its first year of operations in Saint Paul.