CLEVELAND — Kai is the lead youth navigator for “A Place 4 Me” and each day she works to give young people experiencing homelessness stable housing and hope.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the Cleveland Housing Network, in any given month in Cuyahoga County, around 200 young adults are seeking homeless assistance
  • Many of them turn to “A Place 4 Me” for assistance. It's an organization with a mission to end and prevent youth homelessness in Cuyahoga County
  • A Place 4 Me is hosted by the YWCA of Greater Cleveland, which champions affordable housing and guides young adults that would otherwise be homeless into those properties.

“We’ll do their intake and then sort of like, if they need something, we'll invite them to come in because we know that young people are outside, dealing with what they're dealing with," said Kai, who didn't want Spectrum to use her last name. 

Since 2014, A Place 4 Me has been addressing youth homelessness in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. The organization focuses on helping unhoused foster youth, a population Kai once belonged to herself. 

“When young people age out of foster care, a lot of times we don't have the family support that we need. We don't have parents to go back home to or grandparents and things like that, so sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we have no place to go,” Kai said. 

Just a few years after receiving assistance from A Place 4 Me, Kai is helping others.

She said the position has allowed her to tap into her purpose. 

“My experience helps me build these amazing relationships with young people. When I let them know that I've been in their shoes, there's sort of this magic that happens,” Kai said. 

A Place 4 Me executive director Kate Lodge said the initiative takes a holistic approach to assist young adults experiencing housing instability.

They work with more than 30 partners to create long-term solutions to their client's problems. 

“It’s speaking to them in their own language. What are your goals? What do you want to work on? And then strategizing about how we're going to tackle those goals and then finding resources,” Lodge said.