Elevate North Texas

Elevate North Texas was founded amid a global pandemic, known as COVID-19. Because of COVID-19, many homeless shelters had to reduce the number of people they served. This sadly meant more people were forced to live on the streets. Our founder, having worked with those experiencing homelessness for several years, knew prior to this pandemic that the North Texas area was already lacking emergency beds for youth (18-24 years of age). The pandemic only elevated the need to create a safe space for youth. There is a gap in the North Texas homeless system when it comes to this age group. There are simply no emergency shelters for youth (18-24). Furthermore, recent surveys show that youth feel safer on the street than staying in an adult emergency shelter. Elevate North Texas desires to help bridge the gap by providing emergency shelter for youth experiencing homelessness.

Emergency shelter is a place for people to live temporarily when they cannot live in their previous residence. Emergency shelters typically specialize in people fleeing a specific type of situation, such as natural or man-made disasters, domestic violence, or victims of sexual abuse. At Elevate North Texas we see many youth who have timed out of foster care at the age of 18, youth who are kicked out of homes because of their sexual orientation, and some are just fleeing a toxic and dangerous home environment. How do we provide emergency shelter for youth? Elevate North Texas is proud to partner with hotels across North Texas to meet the immediate needs of those youth experiencing homelessness. We are the only emergency shelter serving youth 18-to-24-year olds in North Texas. The youth that walk through our doors are faced with one of the scariest situations any youth can imagine: they no longer have a place to call home. Each youths immediate needs for safety, housing, food, and other necessities are met. While in the shelter, youth receive the resources and information needed to help them obtain a living income, provide a nurturing and affirming environment to help them return to a home of their own. We work with youth, not only to relieve the immediate crisis of homelessness, but also to build skills, resources, and relationships that set the stage for long-term success.