November 7, 2005

Dear Mayor Newsom,

The Youth Commission would like to congratulate you on the great work that is being done to help the issue of homelessness in San Francisco. We visited and volunteered at the Project Homeless Connect on October 18^th and saw the different strategies used to help the homeless get off the streets. We thought the following approaches were very efficient for the homeless youth:

• Veterinarian care for pets;
• Offering food and a sit down area to eat;
• Allowing a wide range of ages to volunteer, including teens;
• Organization and effectiveness – all staff knew what to do and where to find the resources their clients needed.

While volunteering, the commission spent time talking to different youth organizations, other volunteers, and some of the homeless youth about their experiences at the event. The Youth Commission has compiled some suggestions on how to make Project Homeless Connect more useful for the homeless youth in San Francisco:

• More advertising to make the event known;
• More organizations that work solely with youth;
• Information on youth rights such as resources for education and jobs;
• Improved health care access including reproductive health services, hygiene products, and drug education;
• Music, an open mic, or incorporating more art with help from the Art Academy, (ideas which may make the youth more interested in attending);
• More couples' housing;
• An age checkpoint, so the youth can be advised by other youth volunteers and documented;
• A separate entrance for youth;
• A designated spot for youth and youth organizations where they receive resources, food, and a place to relax.

We hope our suggestions are useful. We encourage you to let us know if there are any ways we can help with these issues. Again, the Youth Commission would like to congratulate you on the great work being done to help the homeless. Feel free to contact the Commission for more ideas, further specifics on the ideas above, or any other help you might need.