ALLY

Ambassador: Christopher Senesi , United States

ALLY Youth Service, of Boulder Colorado, USA was founded by Chris Senesi in 2012 to help rehabilitate and reintegrate young homeless people into society. Through ALLY’s outreach schemes homeless youths are found either on the street on in jail. They are offered support in three main areas; health (emotional, physical, and mental); legal (documents and occasionally crime); and educational (skills, qualifications, and career). Each young person is assigned a personal Youth Advocate to help them through the rehabilitation process, with creating goals and developing an action plan to achieve them, including securing permanent accommodation. 45 volunteers, 40 of which are ‘Outreach Volunteers’, and five ‘Leadership Volunteers’ who organise ALLY’s activities. Each contributes three hours per week for an estimated 48 weeks a year through supporting the young people or fundraising. ALLY receives $5,000– $10,000 per year in grants and donations a year. Over 600 young people have received food and shelter, legal advice, counselling, and a place to socialise during the day. 55 people have received clinical services, 42 employment, housing, and comprehensive legal services. Ten people have re-entered education and begun raising families