I expect that many of you were pleased, as I was pleased, when the Edina City Council recently gave preliminary approval to plans to build a facility for homeless youth on 66th Street in the old TCF facility across from Southdale. The Council needs to vote on final approval, and that hasn't happened yet, but a unanimous vote on preliminary approval certainly makes it exceptionally-likely that the project will get final approval and move forward.

The approval of the project is a good thing because it represents a step (admittedly small) towards adressing the serious problem of teen homelessness.  I was talking today to a deacon friend who serves as a police chaplain in St. Paul and sometime does ride-alongs with the cops.  He mentioned that one of the big issues that cops have to confront there in the skyways is homelessness-- folks coming into the skyway system to find shelter-- and mentioned that often the homeless folks are just kids.  They come from families that have terrible dysfunction, or have ceased to exist, and the youth find themselves on the streets with nothing.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the long-term social issues presented by such situations.

I bring this up because it is worth noting that this new homeless facility for kids is being build within the boundaries of St. Richard's parish, something we may forget because we think of St. Richard's Church as a Richfield parish and this facility will be in Edina.  But if you look at a map of the parish, this new place is squarely within our turf.

So, it might be worth thinking about, and praying about, what we might do to welcome the kids who will be sheltered there.  We reach out to nursing homes that are in the same area, and that's great.  Folks in those facilities obviously can have physical and spiritual needs that we can serve.

But wouldn't it also be great if we could reach out to the new kids on the block as they start arriving, to show they they're welcome, and to establish relationships that might help them get out of homelessness and grow as productive adults-- who also know and love Christ.  

This new facility will give us an opportunity, and we've got some time to plan since it won't be operational any time soon.  What will we do with that opportunity?

More information about this project is available at: http://www.beaconinterfaith.org/YouthHousing