Young people with no stable families will soon have a new place to come home to in Southwest Tallahassee. Capital City Youth Services broke ground on a long-term shelter for teenagers on Thursday.
Capital City Youth Services already operates the only emergency shelter for troubled young people in the Big Bend region. The new six-bed shelter, on Roberts Avenue, will offer teens in crisis a place where they can stay long-term. Youth Services CEO Kevin Priest says, 16- to 18-year-olds can live at the shelter for up to 18 months.
“They’re bouncing around from home to home, they don’t have a great support system," Priest said at Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony. "And I’d much rather serve the kids here, provide them with some skills, teach them how to live on their own, as opposed to them just hitting the streets.”
Priest says, a federal grant is allowing the organization to hire new staff. They’ll go out and find young people in need of the new shelter in the eight-county region. The shelter is scheduled to open in June.