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87 Eighty-seven percent of young people who experience homelessness are likely to stop going to school. 48 Nearly half of of CHNY study participants they traded sexual activity for shelter. CITY HOUSE City House was founded in 1988 by two Plano school teachers Nancy Boyd and Kay Goodman who noticed one of their students living out of his locker one living in his car another living in a va- cant building and still another bringing her clothes to school in a garbage bag. What began as a six-bed teen shelter serving Pla- no ISD homeless students has grown into a 48-bed multi-faceted organization serving North Texas youth who are at risk of abuse neglect or homelessness. City House helps youth ages newborn to 21-years old through three primary programs Emergency Shelter forchildreninPlanoOutpatientCounselingServicesforindividuals and families andTransitional Living Programs in Plano and Frisco. The Emergency Shelter which is called My Friends House is a 24bed facility that provides round-the-clock care and services to children ages newborn to 17. City House works with Child Pro- tective Services to take in kids who have been removed from their home as a result of abuse abandonment neglect or a dangerous environment. These youth can stay at the shelter for up to 90 days while City House staff work to get them back into the home or into foster care. My Friends House specializes in keeping siblings to- gether since separating children from their siblings after removing them from the home only adds to their trauma City House gives these children peace of mind by knowing where their siblings are andseeingthemeverydayaplacewherebrothersandsisterscan heal together. The shelter has its name so children staying there can avoid the embarrassment of saying they are living in a shelter. So when asked they can answerI live at My Friends House. The Emergency Shelter also has a program to address the im- mediate needs of runaway or homeless youth for an average stay of 21 30 days. The goal of City House is to increase youth safety well-beingandself-sufficiencyaswellastohelptheseyouthbuild permanentconnectionswithcaringandsafeadults. Otherservices availabletotheseyouthareindividualandfamilycounselingmed- ical examination upon intake individualized case management academic assistance transportation assistance to work or school nutritional education recreational activities positive youth devel- opment and support and life skills and therapeutic group classes. City House also operates a Transitional Living Program TLP for homeless youth ages 18 21. The staffs focus is to help them grow and learn to live independently. Residents may stay up to 18 months and residency is conditioned upon attending school or work. Additionally the residents are required to attend life skills classes where they learn resources such as budgeting searching for a job learning how to do laundry and other household tasks rsumbuildingandinterviewingandapplyingforcolleges. There are strict rules regarding alcohol and drug use overnight guests and contributing to household chores. At theYouth Resource Cen- ters any youth or young adult may get similar assistance even if not a resident. City House is an official Safe Place Organization working in conjunction with local QuikTrip QT locations in Collin and Denton counties. A Safe Place Organization helps provide quick access to help and resources for youth who are runaways abused homeless kicked out of the house or in any unsafe situation. Any troubled youth who show up at a local QT store in need of help will immedi- ately be put in touch with City House. City House will host its annual fundraiser gala on Sep- tember 19 in Frisco. For more information please see the Calendar of Events in this issue of Good Life Family Maga- zine and cityhouse.org