September 21, 2023 • 14 mins
Visions and Pathways, a nonprofit based in Bridgewater, NJ, has provided housing, education, and counseling for many of NJ’s homeless kids and kids aging out of foster care for over 50 years. Our guest is CEO David Walker, as they raise funds for their new residential center, Bridge House II. For more, visit visionsandpathways.org and streetsmartoutreachorg.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Welcome to get connected with Nina delRio, a weekly conversation about fitness,
health and happenings in our community onone oh six point seven Light FM.
Good morning, and thanks for listeningto get connected with a conversation about Visions
and Pathways. They're a nonprofit basedin Bridgewater, New Jersey, providing housing,
(00:23):
education, and counseling for many ofNew Jersey's homeless kids for the last
fifty years. They're currently raising fundsfor the Bridge House Project. This is
housing for young adults who have agedout of foster care, perhaps the most
vulnerable young people in our community.Our guest is David Walker, CEO of
Visions and Pathways. Thank you forbeing on the show. Thank you for
(00:43):
the invitation. I'm glad to behere, Nina. You can find out
more at Visions and Pathways dot organd three Smart Outreach dot org. We'll
talk about that one in a littlebit, but David, I think it's
always fascinating when you talk about numbers. It's estimated that each year about twenty
five percent of kids in the fostercare system at some point find themselves homeless,
jobless, without any support. Howdoes that happen in the first place.
(01:06):
Yeah, it's a reflection of whya young persons in foster care to
begin with, there's dysfunction within thefamily. Many of us are fortunate that
when we turn eighteen twenty one,we have a family that we can rely
on. Youth were an in fostercare system. That simply is not the
case. So when they age outat eighteen or twenty one, it can
(01:30):
make send it to twenty one.Sometimes they don't have a family to fall
back on, they don't have aplace to go, and really that's critical
to Visions and Pathways mission to preventyoung folks when they age out of foster
care from becoming homeless. This isan organization that has been doing this work
since nineteen seventy More than eleven thousandyoung people have benefited. What are the
(01:53):
services of Visions and Pathways every day? Yes, yes, yes, Well
we start shelter, food, shelterand clothing, the basics fundamentals. So
by providing shelter, group homes,supportive affordable housing, we provide that stability
(02:13):
for young people while they're in careand moving on to after the age out
of care. So providing a basicstable living for our young people in addition,
we have a holistic approach to providingcounseling, our wellness program, our
Prosperity, independent living skills program,So it's housing plus. So can you
(02:37):
talk a little bit more about theyoung people you servant? Are they just
New Jersey based? How do theyfind you? How do they connect with
you too? Well? You haveyou from throughout the country. Actually there's
one at some point they have tobe in New Jersey. But we have
one story where there were two youngmen from Russia. They were living with
(02:57):
their mother for most of their lives. Their mother was terminally ill and they
were going to be reunited with theirfather in New York, and so they
came to New York Airport to bereunited with their father. Their father was
struggling with addiction and he never showedup at the airport. So the Department
(03:21):
of Social Services, Department Children's andFamilies contacted us and the two young Russian
boys resided with us for a numberof years. They thrived the great They
went to the local community college,went on to Rutgers University, graduated from
Rutgers, and went on to liveon their own and in Brunswick. So
(03:43):
that's just one example, but therehas to be a New Jersey connection regardless
of where the young person comes fromoriginally. And how long does the average
residents stay with you? I didsee that some of your residents, you
know, they're they're sort of ona pathway to self sufficiency. There's an
expectation that they will launch themselves atsome point that I love the way you're
(04:06):
phrasing pathway to self sufficiency. That'swhat we're all about. It really depends.
We have an emergency shelter for youthages thirteen through seventeen that's called Bromhouse.
For that age group, it's surethe goal is to move on to
a more permanent setting within forty fivedays. So for the thirteen to seventeen
(04:30):
year old, the typical length ofstay is about a month two months,
as we work with the system tomake sure that they have a stable,
more homelike setting for the rest offor the rest of their lives. We
also have other programmers for older youthyoung adults. Age is seventeen through twenty
one, So for the seventeen throughtwenty one year old, the average lens
(04:55):
to stay is about a year anda half and during that year and a
half we work with them. Wefirst we build our self esteem. Being
displaced is a very traumatic experience.So we work with our trauma, worked
at their trauma through our wellness program, through our behavioral health program, and
(05:15):
just providing support. Once we givethem that sense of self that they can
achieve their goals, help them toestablish their goals, then we lay out,
of course, say all right,you know you can do it.
We know you can do it.Let's lay out the plan for self sufficiency.
One of those things would be,I think it's for the old some
of the older residents. You askedthem to pay thirty percent of their income
(05:39):
is rent, sort of like gettingready for adulthood. Yes, yes,
that's our supportive housing programs we have. We own a two bedroom condominium.
We have another program called Village Housewhere we rent apartments throughout the community.
We have our young adults lived inthe Village House apartments, and we also
own a two bedroom house called BridgeHouse. So for the two bid room
(06:01):
condominium for the Village House rentals sincehis departments, Yes, our young folks
paid thirty percent and come towards theday to day maintenance of the unit.
It's a life skill it's learning howto pay rent, it's learning how to
keep up an apartment and the selfesteem that actually comes with paying your bills.
(06:21):
When you can't pay bills, it'sa good feeling, you know,
self sufficiency and also learning to struggle. Oh hey, I have to budget.
So yes for the affordable supportive housingprograms. Our young folks paid thirty
percent towards towards. It's funny sinceyou mentioned that. I remember the first
(06:42):
apartment I had in New York thatI could pay my own rent. I
was so proud of that, beingable to write the check, and you
know, that feeling is real foreverybody. I think, right right,
write the check and make sure thatthere's enough money to bank to cash that
check. So it's a life skill. Our guest is David Walker. He's
CEO of Visions and Pathways. They'rebased in Bridgewater, New Jersey, an
(07:03):
organization whose mission is to help kidswho are homeless after they age out of
foster care, and also to helpkeep children in their homes when possible with
assistance services and counseling. You canfind out more at Visions and Pathways dot
org. You're also operating Street SmartOutreach dot org. What is that,
David. Yes, Yes, Ilove our Street Smart Outreach program. It's
(07:25):
early intervention is identifying young folks beforeto become homeless, before they're displaced,
and that's the best situation for everyone. Within forty eight hours after running away
or being displaced from the home,young folks are typically approached by someone within
the human trafficking industry, industry sextrafficking as well as labor traffiing, so
(07:50):
nothing good comes from being homeless andbeing displaced. Street Smart Outreach working with
the community, faith based organization,schools, local police departments, civic organizations,
you name it. We try toidentify the young folks before they become
homeless, and that's what it's allabout. Early intervention. Now, if
we're not able to identify the youngperson before they wouldcome homeless, hit the
(08:13):
street, our street Smart artwach workers, we try to grab them as soon
as possible and find a stable placefor them to live so they are not
out in the street and they arenot being exploited by human traffickers. As
I mentioned, you're also currently workingon Bridgehouse to funding this project, which
is roughly three point six million dollars. You've just received a huge grant from
(08:37):
Somerset County. Can you talk alittle bit more about that project. We're
very proud of that project because it'spart of our continuing care. We just
spoke a little bit about Street Smartearly intervention hopefully preventing young folks from becoming
homeless. If a young person becomeshomeless, we have our groups so out
(08:58):
on the street, we have ourEmergence Soulter, our group homes where you
can stay until you turn twenty one. Bridge House. Bridge House will be
permanent supportive housing for young folks whohave aged out of foster care in similar
situated young adults. Bridge House isactually located close to our behavior Health department,
(09:18):
close to our wellness staff, andclose to local amenities such as the
mall, jobs, educational institutions,to local community colleges nearby. So Bridge
House is a remarkable part of ourcontinuing with care from early dimension, street
Smart, our group homes in BridgeHouse where we're going to be able to
(09:41):
provide permanent housing, permit housing foryoung folks after the age out of foster
care. And when do you thinkthat will be completed? What's your hope?
Yeah, our hope is within twoyears, we've received about one point
five twenty one point five and onepoint eight million dollars in support. You
have another million in change to goto cover all in the capital costs.
(10:03):
So we're going to start. Wehave to start before we've completely closed that
gap. We have a very aggressivecompanion going on right now and very confident
what we'll be able to close thatgap. So our goal is to raise
about two million, one point fivetwo million dollars within the next two years
(10:24):
to make sure that all costs associatedwith a construction are coverage and just in
general. You know, I'm goingto ask how someone listening can help the
program. They can also, I'msure donate and volunteer. But how much
of the funding that you receive,whether it's public or private funding, goes
to actually your programs. Yeah,well, a good ninety percent of our
(10:45):
funding goals towards programmatic costs. Wehave a very small administrative staff. Most
administrators serve dual purposes administration as wellas direct services. For example, about
half a little over half of ouradministrative staff or English, Spanish bilingual,
(11:05):
and so in addition to for exactfor our direct administration. So in addition
to her day to day administrative responsibilities. She will provide translation for a young
person who comes to us who doesnot speak English. That's just an example.
So a good ninety percent of ourbudget of our punning goes towards direct
(11:31):
costs. And I did see onyour website you have all sorts of opportunities
for volunteering. Do you want tospeak to that briefly? Yes, yes,
we're Our total agency budget is underthree million dollars. On even given
day, we're taken care of throughour residential programs. In our community based
programs, over a hundred young people. The only way we're able to do
(11:54):
that is through volunteers. So wehave volunteers that help with tutoring. We
have volunteers that help with beautification,maintaining our facilities. It takes a lot
to maintain the facilities, So anyaspect of running a household, any aspect
of providing care to a young person, we rely on volunteers to supplement our
(12:18):
staff. We have mentoring programs Journeyto Manhood for Young Men, Jewels for
Young Women, and Skittles for ourLGBTQUTH. Those programs are run entirely by
volunteers. You can find out moreabout those at Visions and Pathways dot org.
And just before we wrap, Iwanted to mention something someone made a
(12:41):
comment last year. I was interviewinga woman who also works with young people
aging out of foster care at anonprofit in New York City, and she
said, it's stuck with me.She said something to the effect of,
if a young person has their childhoodexperience as part of the public system,
living in the public system, thereis a responsibility to the public to make
sure they don't just subsist, butthat they thrive. We owe it to
(13:03):
them, I agree on. Andthe outcome for you through age out of
foster care, unfortunately, typically arenot good. There's a high percentage of
homelessness, or high percentage of mentalillness and incarceration. That's why it's so
important that we work with these lovingly, work with our young folks to help
(13:28):
ensure that they go they need apositive life, that their pathway towards adulthood
is positive, and that they thrive. So I could not agree more.
A young person who's in foster care, a young person who lives experienced homeless
is the trauma they've experienced, traumendoustrauma, so we as a community do
(13:52):
have an obligation to work with theseyoung folks, help them overcome the trauma
and thrive. If you'd like tofind out more about the organization how you
can contribute, the website is Visionsand Pathways dot org. David Walker has
been our guest. Thank you forbeing on Get Connected. Thank you.
This has been Get Connected with Ninadel Rio on one oh six point seven
(14:15):
Lightfm. The views and opinions ofour guests do not necessarily reflect the views
of the station. If you missedany part of our show or want to
share it, visit our website fordownloads and podcasts at one o six seven
lightfm dot com. Thanks for listening.
Welcome to get connected with Nina delRio, a weekly conversation about fitness,
health and happenings in our community onone oh six point seven Light FM.
Good morning, and thanks for listeningto get connected with a conversation about Visions
and Pathways. They're a nonprofit basedin Bridgewater, New Jersey, providing housing,
(00:23):
education, and counseling for many ofNew Jersey's homeless kids for the last
fifty years. They're currently raising fundsfor the Bridge House Project. This is
housing for young adults who have agedout of foster care, perhaps the most
vulnerable young people in our community.Our guest is David Walker, CEO of
Visions and Pathways. Thank you forbeing on the show. Thank you for
(00:43):
the invitation. I'm glad to behere, Nina. You can find out
more at Visions and Pathways dot organd three Smart Outreach dot org. We'll
talk about that one in a littlebit, but David, I think it's
always fascinating when you talk about numbers. It's estimated that each year about twenty
five percent of kids in the fostercare system at some point find themselves homeless,
jobless, without any support. Howdoes that happen in the first place.
(01:06):
Yeah, it's a reflection of whya young persons in foster care to
begin with, there's dysfunction within thefamily. Many of us are fortunate that
when we turn eighteen twenty one,we have a family that we can rely
on. Youth were an in fostercare system. That simply is not the
case. So when they age outat eighteen or twenty one, it can
(01:30):
make send it to twenty one.Sometimes they don't have a family to fall
back on, they don't have aplace to go, and really that's critical
to Visions and Pathways mission to preventyoung folks when they age out of foster
care from becoming homeless. This isan organization that has been doing this work
since nineteen seventy More than eleven thousandyoung people have benefited. What are the
(01:53):
services of Visions and Pathways every day? Yes, yes, yes, Well
we start shelter, food, shelterand clothing, the basics fundamentals. So
by providing shelter, group homes,supportive affordable housing, we provide that stability
(02:13):
for young people while they're in careand moving on to after the age out
of care. So providing a basicstable living for our young people in addition,
we have a holistic approach to providingcounseling, our wellness program, our
Prosperity, independent living skills program,So it's housing plus. So can you
(02:37):
talk a little bit more about theyoung people you servant? Are they just
New Jersey based? How do theyfind you? How do they connect with
you too? Well? You haveyou from throughout the country. Actually there's
one at some point they have tobe in New Jersey. But we have
one story where there were two youngmen from Russia. They were living with
(02:57):
their mother for most of their lives. Their mother was terminally ill and they
were going to be reunited with theirfather in New York, and so they
came to New York Airport to bereunited with their father. Their father was
struggling with addiction and he never showedup at the airport. So the Department
(03:21):
of Social Services, Department Children's andFamilies contacted us and the two young Russian
boys resided with us for a numberof years. They thrived the great They
went to the local community college,went on to Rutgers University, graduated from
Rutgers, and went on to liveon their own and in Brunswick. So
(03:43):
that's just one example, but therehas to be a New Jersey connection regardless
of where the young person comes fromoriginally. And how long does the average
residents stay with you? I didsee that some of your residents, you
know, they're they're sort of ona pathway to self sufficiency. There's an
expectation that they will launch themselves atsome point that I love the way you're
(04:06):
phrasing pathway to self sufficiency. That'swhat we're all about. It really depends.
We have an emergency shelter for youthages thirteen through seventeen that's called Bromhouse.
For that age group, it's surethe goal is to move on to
a more permanent setting within forty fivedays. So for the thirteen to seventeen
(04:30):
year old, the typical length ofstay is about a month two months,
as we work with the system tomake sure that they have a stable,
more homelike setting for the rest offor the rest of their lives. We
also have other programmers for older youthyoung adults. Age is seventeen through twenty
one, So for the seventeen throughtwenty one year old, the average lens
(04:55):
to stay is about a year anda half and during that year and a
half we work with them. Wefirst we build our self esteem. Being
displaced is a very traumatic experience.So we work with our trauma, worked
at their trauma through our wellness program, through our behavioral health program, and
(05:15):
just providing support. Once we givethem that sense of self that they can
achieve their goals, help them toestablish their goals, then we lay out,
of course, say all right,you know you can do it.
We know you can do it.Let's lay out the plan for self sufficiency.
One of those things would be,I think it's for the old some
of the older residents. You askedthem to pay thirty percent of their income
(05:39):
is rent, sort of like gettingready for adulthood. Yes, yes,
that's our supportive housing programs we have. We own a two bedroom condominium.
We have another program called Village Housewhere we rent apartments throughout the community.
We have our young adults lived inthe Village House apartments, and we also
own a two bedroom house called BridgeHouse. So for the two bid room
(06:01):
condominium for the Village House rentals sincehis departments, Yes, our young folks
paid thirty percent and come towards theday to day maintenance of the unit.
It's a life skill it's learning howto pay rent, it's learning how to
keep up an apartment and the selfesteem that actually comes with paying your bills.
(06:21):
When you can't pay bills, it'sa good feeling, you know,
self sufficiency and also learning to struggle. Oh hey, I have to budget.
So yes for the affordable supportive housingprograms. Our young folks paid thirty
percent towards towards. It's funny sinceyou mentioned that. I remember the first
(06:42):
apartment I had in New York thatI could pay my own rent. I
was so proud of that, beingable to write the check, and you
know, that feeling is real foreverybody. I think, right right,
write the check and make sure thatthere's enough money to bank to cash that
check. So it's a life skill. Our guest is David Walker. He's
CEO of Visions and Pathways. They'rebased in Bridgewater, New Jersey, an
(07:03):
organization whose mission is to help kidswho are homeless after they age out of
foster care, and also to helpkeep children in their homes when possible with
assistance services and counseling. You canfind out more at Visions and Pathways dot
org. You're also operating Street SmartOutreach dot org. What is that,
David. Yes, Yes, Ilove our Street Smart Outreach program. It's
(07:25):
early intervention is identifying young folks beforeto become homeless, before they're displaced,
and that's the best situation for everyone. Within forty eight hours after running away
or being displaced from the home,young folks are typically approached by someone within
the human trafficking industry, industry sextrafficking as well as labor traffiing, so
(07:50):
nothing good comes from being homeless andbeing displaced. Street Smart Outreach working with
the community, faith based organization,schools, local police departments, civic organizations,
you name it. We try toidentify the young folks before they become
homeless, and that's what it's allabout. Early intervention. Now, if
we're not able to identify the youngperson before they wouldcome homeless, hit the
(08:13):
street, our street Smart artwach workers, we try to grab them as soon
as possible and find a stable placefor them to live so they are not
out in the street and they arenot being exploited by human traffickers. As
I mentioned, you're also currently workingon Bridgehouse to funding this project, which
is roughly three point six million dollars. You've just received a huge grant from
(08:37):
Somerset County. Can you talk alittle bit more about that project. We're
very proud of that project because it'spart of our continuing care. We just
spoke a little bit about Street Smartearly intervention hopefully preventing young folks from becoming
homeless. If a young person becomeshomeless, we have our groups so out
(08:58):
on the street, we have ourEmergence Soulter, our group homes where you
can stay until you turn twenty one. Bridge House. Bridge House will be
permanent supportive housing for young folks whohave aged out of foster care in similar
situated young adults. Bridge House isactually located close to our behavior Health department,
(09:18):
close to our wellness staff, andclose to local amenities such as the
mall, jobs, educational institutions,to local community colleges nearby. So Bridge
House is a remarkable part of ourcontinuing with care from early dimension, street
Smart, our group homes in BridgeHouse where we're going to be able to
(09:41):
provide permanent housing, permit housing foryoung folks after the age out of foster
care. And when do you thinkthat will be completed? What's your hope?
Yeah, our hope is within twoyears, we've received about one point
five twenty one point five and onepoint eight million dollars in support. You
have another million in change to goto cover all in the capital costs.
(10:03):
So we're going to start. Wehave to start before we've completely closed that
gap. We have a very aggressivecompanion going on right now and very confident
what we'll be able to close thatgap. So our goal is to raise
about two million, one point fivetwo million dollars within the next two years
(10:24):
to make sure that all costs associatedwith a construction are coverage and just in
general. You know, I'm goingto ask how someone listening can help the
program. They can also, I'msure donate and volunteer. But how much
of the funding that you receive,whether it's public or private funding, goes
to actually your programs. Yeah,well, a good ninety percent of our
(10:45):
funding goals towards programmatic costs. Wehave a very small administrative staff. Most
administrators serve dual purposes administration as wellas direct services. For example, about
half a little over half of ouradministrative staff or English, Spanish bilingual,
(11:05):
and so in addition to for exactfor our direct administration. So in addition
to her day to day administrative responsibilities. She will provide translation for a young
person who comes to us who doesnot speak English. That's just an example.
So a good ninety percent of ourbudget of our punning goes towards direct
(11:31):
costs. And I did see onyour website you have all sorts of opportunities
for volunteering. Do you want tospeak to that briefly? Yes, yes,
we're Our total agency budget is underthree million dollars. On even given
day, we're taken care of throughour residential programs. In our community based
programs, over a hundred young people. The only way we're able to do
(11:54):
that is through volunteers. So wehave volunteers that help with tutoring. We
have volunteers that help with beautification,maintaining our facilities. It takes a lot
to maintain the facilities, So anyaspect of running a household, any aspect
of providing care to a young person, we rely on volunteers to supplement our
(12:18):
staff. We have mentoring programs Journeyto Manhood for Young Men, Jewels for
Young Women, and Skittles for ourLGBTQUTH. Those programs are run entirely by
volunteers. You can find out moreabout those at Visions and Pathways dot org.
And just before we wrap, Iwanted to mention something someone made a
(12:41):
comment last year. I was interviewinga woman who also works with young people
aging out of foster care at anonprofit in New York City, and she
said, it's stuck with me.She said something to the effect of,
if a young person has their childhoodexperience as part of the public system,
living in the public system, thereis a responsibility to the public to make
sure they don't just subsist, butthat they thrive. We owe it to
(13:03):
them, I agree on. Andthe outcome for you through age out of
foster care, unfortunately, typically arenot good. There's a high percentage of
homelessness, or high percentage of mentalillness and incarceration. That's why it's so
important that we work with these lovingly, work with our young folks to help
(13:28):
ensure that they go they need apositive life, that their pathway towards adulthood
is positive, and that they thrive. So I could not agree more.
A young person who's in foster care, a young person who lives experienced homeless
is the trauma they've experienced, traumendoustrauma, so we as a community do
(13:52):
have an obligation to work with theseyoung folks, help them overcome the trauma
and thrive. If you'd like tofind out more about the organization how you
can contribute, the website is Visionsand Pathways dot org. David Walker has
been our guest. Thank you forbeing on Get Connected. Thank you.
This has been Get Connected with Ninadel Rio on one oh six point seven
(14:15):
Lightfm. The views and opinions ofour guests do not necessarily reflect the views
of the station. If you missedany part of our show or want to
share it, visit our website fordownloads and podcasts at one o six seven
lightfm dot com. Thanks for listening.
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