David and Margaret Youth and Family Services helps young people get the support they need to thrive.

by NILE SPRAGUE, with TARA BARNES

When both her parents passed away within two years, Cecilia Flores turned to David and Margaret Youth and Family Services for support. Flores, 20, lives in an apartment near the organization’s La Verne, California campus while studying psychology at Mt. San Antonio College and working part time at a local bakery, a job David and Margaret helped her find.

“They’ve been helping me with everything I need,” she said. “Right now, my main focus is my schooling. They’ve been helping me with financial aid, my classes, how to schedule everything… They taught me how to navigate through all of it.”

Her apartment is subsidized by David and Margaret through its transitional housing program. Participants also receive a monthly stipend. This gives Flores the space to focus on school and what it means to live on her own without having to worry about finding and paying for a safe home.

After her father died, Flores, a recovering drug addict, lived for a short time with a cousin. It was a situation she called “not good.”

“I had to get out of there. Now, it’s a lot better because I’m not around people drunk all the time… When I would try to sleep, all I heard was screaming, arguing,” she said. “Now it’s more peaceful. Now I know I’m safe. I’m going to be okay.”

Transitional housing is part of David and Margaret’s COMPASS program, which also includes a permanent supportive housing program, one-on-one employment and education support. The organization also provides a drop-in center with a lounge, laundry, showers, kitchen, tutoring, computer lab, social events and more.

In addition to finding children foster families, David and Margaret offers support for youth who age out of foster care at age 18 and out of extended foster care, which ends at age 21.

“Our primary goal is to help our clients become as self-sufficient as possible,” said Wayne Wolcott, social work supervisor for the transitional housing program. “Housing isn’t our primary goal, but it’s the first thing we provide. Our primary focus is independent living skills. We want to help our youth learn the skills to become self-sufficient adults: enrolling in school, getting a job, maintaining a job and things many of us take for granted like budgeting, how to file taxes, how to clean your apartment—skills that we learned through life experience, but our clients haven’t had the opportunity to learn these experiences.”

David and Margaret is one of the 90 National Mission Institutions making a difference in the lives of women and children supported by United Women in Faith. Photojournalist Nile Sprague visited the organization and shared this article as well as an engaging and informative video. Be sure to watch the video and share it at your United Women in Faith gatherings and on your social network to spread the word about these good works.