Courtney Patel started her career in behavioral health in Fairbanks, Alaska, where she saw a side of her community that she has never seen before. Her passion for working with children and experience in behavioral health brought her to Daybreak Inc, an organization that helps homeless youth get back on their feet.
WYSO’s Mike Frazier asked Courtney what her plans are for Daybreak Inc as its new CEO.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Courtney Patel: I have so many goals. I told the team I would love for us to get to a point where we have made such an impact on homelessness in Dayton that we don't need Daybreak anymore.
But in the near future, what we're really looking at is trying to start up a prevention program and a community response program where we identify individuals or families that might be having some challenges relating to their housing. And then we go and deploy our resources to get them help to develop certain skills, give them other access to resources that they may not otherwise be tapped into yet so that they don't necessarily need to end up in our shelter.
We'd love to make sure that we get to folks before they become unhoused, because we don't want anyone really going through that experience. So while we'll maintain our shelter and our housing program, we want to also get to folks before they need that level of care.
Mike Frazier: This is an obvious question, but it bears asking - homelessness is still an issue in the Dayton area?
Patel: Oh yeah, definitely still an issue. In our shelter we have about 24 beds and they stay full and sometimes there are folks that we’re not able to serve yet. Thankfully we have a drop-in center which allows for folks to get in off the street and so they're not necessarily sleeping outside, which is great, but the need is definitely still there for shelter space, and then also we provide that full continuum of care from a housing perspective.
"They're not bad kids. These are just folks going through something and usually it's no fault of their own."
So after folks are ready, we like to try and move them into transitional housing and then into community apartments, and right now we have a wait list of about 40 young people waiting to get into that transitional housing program. So there is definitely a need. We're doing our best to serve those folks as much as we can, but as things get harder and access to affordable housing becomes more of a challenge, it's going to continue to grow, unfortunately.
Frazier: What do you think people don't understand about what causes homelessness and how it affects young people?
Patel: You know, that's a great question. I think sometimes there's a stigma associated with young people who are experiencing homelessness. And so I think what would be important for people to know is that most of the time, this isn't by choice, this isn't due to behavioral challenges or things like that. The youth that are coming to us for help are coming to us because this is a result of their experience that largely hasn't been through their own decision making. This is typically a product of their situation versus something that they have done. And so, I think sometimes people think that maybe these are kind of "bad kids" and they're not. They're not bad kids. These are just folks going through something and usually it's no fault of their own.
Frazier: I was about to say, playing devil's advocate, some people might assume that it's just kids making bad decisions and just being irresponsible kids, but you're saying that's not the case.
Patel: It's really not. I mean, we have some folks that pop up every now and then, and that's why they're here, but a lot of times it's going to be due to family conflict, abusive situations. Sometimes we see folks coming to us because their parents are going through their own challenges, whether it be issues with income and affording housing or substance abuse issues. So there's a whole gamut of reasons why, but a lot of times it's not just because the youth themselves are making poor decisions, it's typically because they've been challenged with certain circumstances and they're trying their best to live within that.
Frazier: And then what happens at that point? Once they come in and they're established, what can they expect from daybreak?
Patel: So we provide some skill development, we provide access to case managers and therapists for behavioral health, some therapy services. We get them connected with as many folks as we can based on their specific needs. So that might be a psychiatrist or other healthcare providers for general health. And then we also try to link them with either GED or diploma services so that they can finish their education. And we also have a workforce development program where we link them with either folks here within Daybreak for employment opportunities or other partners in the community that might be looking for maybe entry-level workers and are willing to assist our folks. So we try to get them established with a job. And then as they kind of grow and get connected with these resources, they get stabilized. We try to move them even closer to independence through our community housing program. And what that typically looks like is we get them into a community apartment. And we fund a large amount of that rent in the beginning. And then as they continue to work their program, they start to assume more and more of that rent. And so at the end, we kind of consider that they have graduated or completed their program and they can assume that rent and that apartment at fair market value and they can continue living there as long as they so choose.
Frazier: Is it difficult seeing these kids come in in the situations that they're in?
Patel: Oh absolutely. I'm a mom and I just can't imagine my kids ever having to go through what these young people are going through - not just the fact that they're experiencing homelessness right now, but all of the things that led up to that. But I think at the end of the day, if we could impact one person, we'll have done something. We have a great luncheon coming up on November 13th, and we have a wonderful speaker that is coming to share her experience. She talks about what she's gone through and how we've kind of helped her launch and become independent. And it just, every time I hear the story, it just really brings tears to my eyes. And it's just a beautiful story. And she's just one of many.
Frazier: Also, this is a testimonial of a success story.
Patel: Absolutely. It totally is. Yes, absolutely.
And the success story Courtney spoke of is that of Tia Marcel Moretti, currently the interim director of the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health, who experienced homelessness as a youth. She is the scheduled speaker at the Champions for Youth Luncheon on Nov. 13 when Daybreak celebrates its 50th anniversary.
