Pathfinders Milwaukee

EMPOWERING YOUTH IN CRISIS TO MAKE POSITIVE CHOICES

For many young people, maps to guide them to a successful future are often difficult to find. Choosing the right path is a challenge. Wrong turns happen. Detours are not uncommon.

For youth confronted by crisis and trauma, it can seem like no one cares and that there are few role models to show them the way. At Pathfinders, we empower youth and young adults by providing them with emotional support, resources for basic needs, and tangible tools for a fresh start. Our team of 50 employees and 120 volunteers work together to reassure them that they matter, so that they can change the direction of their lives.

We understand that real change, especially for youth in crisis, starts from within.

Pathfinders was established in 1970 and incorporated as a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization in 1973. Our programs represent some of the most comprehensive youth services available in Wisconsin, designed to protect youth and young adults, strengthen individuals and families, and improve the emotional and mental health of young people at risk in our community. Our family-centered, strengths-based programs provide a continuum of services for youth, offered at little or no cost.

Pathfinders serves over 6,000 individuals each year, with 85% people of color, overwhelming low income or extremely low income, all of whom are children, young adults, and/or the adults who care for them. Sixty-five percent of Pathfinders work directly focuses on runaway and homeless youth while our remaining programs overlap and closely coordinate their work with our homeless youth services.

Pathfinders’ major initiatives and target populations include: Youth Shelter, Street Outreach, and Drop- In Center:  Milwaukee’s longest running program specializing in the unique needs of runaway, homeless, and other at-risk youth and their families; Hand-in-Hand: Milwaukee’s oldest and most comprehensive ongoing counseling program for young victims of sexual abuse ages 6-18; Prevention Education Program: one of Milwaukee’s leading sexual violence and teen pregnancy prevention education programs; Rosalie Center for Family Engagement,offers young, at-risk mothers and their families/partners case management, parenting education, systems navigation and advocacy support that contribute to healthy birth outcomes and prevention of child abuse and neglect  and Southeastern Education Center, a specialized behavioral re-assignment school in partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools, provides sixth through eighth grade students targeted interventions and focused learning opportunities.

On any given night in Milwaukee, over 600 youth do not have a safe place to stay. Homeless teens and young adults in Milwaukee face some of the most staggering odds in the country in attaining safe, stable, supportive housing given the city’s ongoing challenges in the education, employment, and economic sectors. Combined with the high rates of sexual assault and exploitation of young people, many of whom are trading sex for shelter, the environment is uniquely risky even among other large urban environments.

The primary goal of our homeless youth programming is to prevent the exploitation and abuse of runaway, homeless, street-dependent and transient youth by providing targeted street-based outreach and education services. Homeless youth services are provided through our 24 hour/365 day emergency youth shelter which houses and/or supports more than 400 youth annually; street outreach (Street Beat) programming which helps homeless youth over 4,500 times each year; supported housing for LGBT homeless young adults (Q-BLOK); and our drop-in center (The Drop) for homeless and exploited youth which provides basic needs, life skills and enrichment, tutoring, employment assistance, and case management to more than 500 youth annually.

Pathfinders is an active collaborator with many social service and youth-serving agencies and local middle and high schools in the greater Milwaukee area and the State of Wisconsin. Pathfinders partners with the Milwaukee Public Schools’ Homeless Education Program, the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee Bureau of Child Welfare and the Milwaukee Juvenile Court Center, in addition to numerous agencies, including Walker’s Point Youth and Family Services, Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, Plymouth UCC, Re-Think Resources, WAHRS AmeriCorp Program, local universities and area health centers.