Paul Lee—2013 Fellow
Year: Class of 2014
Organization: Avenues for Homeless Youth
As a 2013 Chuck Green Fellow, I partnered with a homeless youth organization called Avenues for Homeless Youth. Located in North Minneapolis but serving a diverse youth population, Avenues is a unique facility in that it is open 24/7. This gives the youth an opportunity to find a welcoming home, staffed with youth counselors, case managers and mental health specialists who are able to provide personalized care. My initial project interests were in closing the inequity gap in quality public education, but as I spent more time researching, I also became interested in the youth homelessness issue. I wanted to spend my time researching innovative pedagogical approaches when working with youth and my summer was spent designing and Independent Living Skills curriculum. The hope is that by learning independent living skills, the youth will be empowered to move into the next phase in their lives in housing.