“Unfortunately, a lot of times what happens with young men and women, when they age out of foster care, [is] they find that their bags are ... placed out on the porch,” Walley said.
Data from the Administration for Children and Families shows 20% of young adults who have aged out of foster care were incarcerated during the last two years by age 19, and 42% will experience homelessness by the time they turn 21. Founded in 2016, Hope’s Path is a Christian-based organization that aims to help men ages 18-28 avoid these odds by providing them with housing, transportation and life skills classes.
The Spring-area center is home to 10 residents who grew up in foster care—seven in Texas and three from other U.S. states.
“We get calls every day for people looking to come in,” Executive Director Brandon Anderchuk said. “It is a huge need.”
To live at Hope’s Path, residents must go through an application process to see if they are a good fit for the program, Anderchuk said. Program leaders look for residents who have a goal to better themselves, such as finding a job or finishing school.
The residents at Hope’s Path must also agree to live sober lifestyles during the two-year program and attend sessions covering financial literacy and character development. “It takes almost six months ... for [the young men’s] guards to go down [and they] actually start to trust us,” he said.
While staying at Hope’s Path, the residents pay $350 in rent per month, Anderchuk said, to rent their own room and access shared facilities, such as a game room, laundry facilities and a kitchen. Hope’s Path also offers its residents the opportunity to make monthly payments on a donated vehicle before eventually owning it. Upon completing of the program, Anderchuk said Hope’s Path residents receive all of the money they paid in rent to help them transition to independent living—an average of $8,000-$10,000.
In mid-November, Hope’s Path broke ground on a new set of tiny homes so former foster care individuals have an independent-living option with access to Hope’s Path programming. Anderchuk estimated the homes will cost $100,000-$200,000 to build with some of the funding already provided through donations. However, the remaining amount still needs to be fundraised.
“I would challenge the community to give ... to help fund not only the expenses of our organization that we have here, but the expansion of the tiny homes as well,” Anderchuk said.
