The homeless or at-risk youth participating in Movement 5280 are between 18 and 30. According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, “one-third (34%) of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness at a point in time are African American”, close to half are white, 10% are mixed race, and 4% are Native American. (USICH, 2018). Typically, homeless youth have aged out of the foster care system – 33%, juvenile detencion center or jail- 50% (National Confernece of State Legislatures, 2021). These demographics are representative of the clientele Movement 5280 serves. All of the clients in the program live below the poverty line and are in unstable housing. 

Youth on the streets often have a higher rate of drug use than housed young adults, even two to three times higher (National Library of Medicine, 2010), and ten times higher suicide rate (National Health Care for the Homeless, 2018). The need for human connection, support, mentorship, positive affirmations, and purpose that programs like Movement 5280 can provide is an absolute need in our community.

A health study by the University of Texas at Austin statses that their “findings suggest that social networks, economic factors, and future expectancies are significant predictors of substance use among homeless young adults.” (Gomez et al., pg. 8, 2011). Movement 5280’s Thrive program creates a positive social network that provides hope and future development. This social network could decrease these participants’ susceptibility to drug use. Other studies and literature reviews have shown that programs like Movement 5280’s participants reported “decreased substance use and depression along with increased self-efficacy and general physical and mental health.” (Moron et al., pg. 1, 2019). Outreach programs significantly affect at-risk and homeless youth’s perception and outlook. Programs provide hope, services, and the potential to intervene with homelessness. This intervention, in turn, can beak the cycle of substance abuse, generational homelessness, and poverty.