Why Integral Youth Services?
The desperation of youth facing homelessness in Klamath County is a harsh reality. Imagine you are a 16 year old girl who just got into a fight with her parents. After a lot of back and forth arguing, and a lot of built up anger, they tell you that you are no longer welcomed at home. You head to the streets with nothing but the clothes on your back with nowhere to go for the night. You’re cold, hungry, and confused, not knowing what to do and scared of spending the night out on the street. Not to mention, tomorrow is Friday, and you have no way to get to school. You’ve never felt so alone.
Luckily, there is a runaway and homeless youth shelter in Klamath County called “My Friend’s Place” for youth ages 10-17, which offers a safe space to rest and reset. You remember passing by the house on your way home and know it is close to Klamath Union and marked with a yellow flag. You head there, and within the first hour of arriving they make you a home cooked meal, provide clothes for the night, and set you up with a plan to reunite with your family successfully. You have a safe warm place to lay your head for the night and feel more at ease about going to school the next day.
This is just one example of the many ways Integral Youth Services—more commonly known as IYS—helps youth in Klamath County. IYS started in 1988 with three social workers who noticed youth falling through the cracks and had a sense of hope in changing their lives. These women banned together, and what started with a simple card table on the side of the road, identifying homeless youth and getting them help, has grown into what IYS is today.
The Impact of IYS
Since the beginning, Integral Youth Services' mission has been offering hope to youth, providing for their needs, and mentoring toward positive choices and healthy relationships. Under this mantra, the organization has helped fill gaps in services helping over 60,000 youth. IYS has nine wrap-around programs that provide youth and families with food, work experience, sheltering, transitional housing, skill building, and resource connections. Many of the staff at IYS started off as clients, coming from the communities they serve, striving to be a part of the solution for a happier and healthier Klamath Falls.
In recent years, IYS has strived to think forward, tripling year-round staff, opening three transitional living houses for youth aging out of foster care, and creating a year-round workforce development program.
In Conclusion
Integral Youth Services (IYS), born out of compassion in 1988, has tirelessly worked to mend the lives of thousands. Beginning with three social workers who refused to let youth slip through the cracks, setting up a card table on the roadside. Today, IYS stands as a beacon of hope, encompassing nine comprehensive programs addressing food insecurity, work experience, sheltering, transitional housing, skill development, and resource connections.
The impact of IYS reverberates through the over 60,000 lives touched, fostering positive choices and healthy relationships. Now, as we stand at the cusp of 2024, IYS looks forward to its inaugural giving campaign, "Love Our Children’s Day," aimed at both fundraising and shedding light on national issues of child abuse affecting our community's youth directly.
You can make a lasting impact; seize the opportunity to be a part of the "Day of Play" at Mike’s Field House on April 6th. It's not merely a day of family fun activities but a chance to contribute to a cause that changes lives. Our goal is ambitious: $100,000 to fortify IYS programs, a target matched by sponsorships from across the basin. Your support, whether big or small, is integral to the success of these programs. Visit the IYS website at https://integralyouthservices.org/ and be the catalyst for a brighter, more secure future for the youth of Klamath County.
Together, let's transform lives through the power of hope.
