Posts Tagged ‘youth services’
When I first got involved with Sox Place almost 10 years ago, our kids were primarily of one sub-culture, the gutter punk. They were anti-government, anti- law, anti-cop, anti-authority, and anti-pretty much everything that got in their way of drinking, fighting, and having “fun.” We still have some of those kids, but now, the kids that come to Sox Place are so diverse that we see many different attitudes and mindsets. They are from different backgrounds and ethnicity.
One major change that I have seen that is positive is that our kids don’t really consider it cool to be living on the streets anymore. In previous years, you got most of your streets status by how long you had been homeless. Now many of our kids want desperately to break the cycle of homelessness, joblessness, and the street lifestyle they are living.
This can be quite a daunting task for many of our youth. So many of them have never been taught the basic life skills that you and I can take for granted. No one was around to teach them how to get up and be on time, how to accept direction and correction from authority, how to look presentable for a job interview, and how to manage the little money they get. Even basic personal hygiene that we were taught as children is foreign to them. It’s easy to write many of these things off as common sense, but when the example your parents give you is violence, welfare abuse, food stamps, taking advantage of the government disability program, and drug and alcohol abuse, common sense becomes not so common for them.
Many of our kids are realizing this is no way to live, and that is very encouraging for me. Therefore, we are adapting our services to include the “Streets2Stability” program. This program is where we teach these basic lessons through a three month internship. We are also helping in the job hunting process, giving bus fare and clothes that are appropriate for interviews.
One of the critical ways you can help these kids who are trying very hard to get off the streets is to let us know if you have any job leads; that would be invaluable. No matter what kind of work it is, we can try and fit one of our youths for the job. We also have a 5280 program where you can commit to donating $52.80 a month to help pay for more “Streets2Stability” participants and other services. Sometimes it only takes one person willing to take a risk for these kids for them to rise to the occasion, and break the cycle.
These are exciting times here at Sox Place and hold a lot of hope for our kids, as it is now they who want to make a change, not everyone around them wanting to change them.
-Jordan
Sox Place is a drop in center for street kids that provides a safe haven for them to call home. But it’s not just a drop in center, it’s a church. Doyle and the supporters of Sox Place are dedicated to changing lives one relationship at a time in the heart of Denver. Surrounded by prostitution, heroine use, and meth addiction Doyle dives into the mess of people’s lives and loves them where they are at.
Imagine being 16, 17, or 18 and living on the streets. CNN catches up with some of Denver’s homeless youth to find out what it’s like. It is a story of survival and hope. Most of them have found a home through Sox Place. Even though they face more struggles than most, they have not let their dreams die.
From the darkness of his troubled adolescence in Arkansas, Doyle Robinson found the light: He would draw upon his own pain to help troubled teens. From his early days handing out tube socks to homeless kids on the 16th Street Mall, Robinson’s vision has grown to include Sox Place, a converted downtown auto shop that’s now Denver’s only daytime drop-in youth center, where kids can find a warm bowl of soup, a quiet place to crash, easy camaraderie and the occasional punk concert. And if they’re seeking spiritual guidance, Robinson — an ordained minister with the Assembly of God — can offer that, too. But he prefers action to words, showing the power of faith rather than preaching it.
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? – “Wagon Wheel,” “Wayward Son,” “Amazing Grace,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” “O.M.G. (Jesus Wept)”
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? – The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: “Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for.”
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- The Punisher
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Laundry
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Route 66 Cherry Limeade
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? – “Much too young”- Garth Brooks, “Folsom Prison Blues”- Johnny Cash, “When the stars go blue”- Ryan Adams, “Thick and Thin”- Seventh Star, “The funeral”- Band of Horses
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? – Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle. Everyone deserves a second chance no matter what they’ve done or what they’ve been through.
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- Tom Sawyer
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Cleaning my Garage
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Otter Pops
To Kara, being truly Christ-like means to demonstrate love and compassion to everyone, no matter who they are, what they’ve done, or what their plans are. She hopes she is able to convey a Christ-like love at Sox Place both behind the scenes and face-to-face with the kids.
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? – “In Christ Alone” (Townend/Getty version), “When I Fall in Love” by Nat King Cole, “When the Last Tear Falls” by Andrew Peterson, “Hands and Feet” by Audio Adrenaline, “Loose Change” by Andrew Peterson.
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? – Through a Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet: [Speaking of Jesus] “And He did not set conditions for the needy, saying that He would walk away if they spoke profanity, behaved inappropriately or had the wrong sexual orientation. No, as a good shepherd, He went out to find them and loved the sick, the weak, the appalling, the offensive, the reckless, the foul-mouthed, the addicted.”
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- Neville Longbottom
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Dishes
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Ice cold watermelon!
Benten’s hope for those he encounters is that they will see themselves as God sees them – truly loved and deeply valued..
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? - Sigh no More by Mumford and Sons, Son of the Morning by Oh, Sleeper, Nothing Better by the Postal Service, Amazing Grace, Leap by The Cave Singers.
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? – Radical by David Platt. Platt explains that the life Jesus calls us to is not meant to be comfortable or easy in any way. We are not meant to chase after the “American Dream” or seek worldly things. He asks us to sacrifice everything, even to the point of death, in order to follow Him.”
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- Batman
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Pulling weeds
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Ice cream
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