On February 11th, a dream came true. It’s one of those rare dreams that makes life better for others, and helps them make their dreams come true as well.

TEEN PROJECT’S THE P.A.D. VENICE DROP IN CENTER

Teen Project‘s The P.A.D. Drop In Center in Venice, California, held its ribbon cutting ceremony over the weekend and introduced the stylish resource center to the community. The center exists to help young adults who find themselves abruptly dropped from the Foster Care program at 18, with nowhere to go.

Many of the kids exiting the foster care program end up on the street, homeless, and resorting to crime in order to take care of themselves. These kids are put on the street without money, shelter, or a job, usually with no real training or skill, some with trauma issues that need psych meds to stabilize them. Its not hard to imagine the kind of trouble they could get into just trying to survive.

Teen Project, founded by Laurie Burns, has worked with many of these young adults, connecting them to available resources such as Teen Meeting Places Program, National Mentoring Program, Sober College Housing, Project Shelter Collaboration, and The Text Shelter Service, among others. She herself has taken in dozens upon dozens of at risk, foster kids, and has committed herself to their well being. Laurie herself was a child of the Juvenile Dependency System, and her experiences at the hands of the system, as well as the result of being dropped at 18 without any home or means of providing for herself, is what inspired her to be of service to the clients of Teen Project.

Justin Carroll of ONE80CENTER heard Laurie’s story and was so moved by what he heard that he committed himself to raising funds for the new Teen Project Drop In Center. He held a fund raising event at ONE80CENTER in Beverly Hills, where chanteuse Sarah Ault sang to a small audience of people who were clearly touched, as Justin had been, by Laurie’s story. And like Laurie, no one wanted another young person to ever go through what Laurie had been subjected to.

That night, ONE80CENTER was able to raise enough money (over $80,000) for Laurie and Teen Project LA that it funded the new TEEN PROJECT P.A.D. DROP IN CENTER.

The new center will be a place that homeless teens and young adults can come to who have no where else to go. Teen Project will then connect the teen with whatever it is they need- food, shelter, job training, medical assistance, substance abuse help,mentors, jobs- each young adult will be assessed and assisted as they transition into adulthood.

The Center itself is a lovely space. 8 interior designers volunteered to create colorful, warm spaces with clean lines, such as the mezzanine area. The walls are greyish blue with wallpaper that looks like paved stones, and hot pink cushions with slate blue carpet. The red Eames chairs in the reception area are a far cry from the institutional chairs found in most places that provide services to the disenfranchised, Such a small but well thought out detail instantly gives one a feeling of being welcome, and of being in the right place.

The overall effect of the well appointed space is that ‘everything is going to be okay’.

ONE80CENTER remains heavily involved on an ongoing basis with the homeless organization GETT LOVE, as well as its own non profit, 12 ANGELS, which helps find jobs for people in recovery. Fund raising is yet another aspect; Justin Carroll picks the charities for ONE80CENTER to champion, to help improve their effectiveness and insure they achieve their goals. This could be through fund raising, or it could be through aligning the staff and clients with the organizations to help in a hands-on kind of way.

As Laurie Burn’s cut the ribbon to the entrance of the new facility, one couldn’t help but feel the goosebumps standing up all along the back of one’s arms. Knowing the journey it took for her to be standing there, scissors in hand, really brought the concept of turning one’s life around to be of extreme service to others to light. And knowing the team of people who supported her vision, who were willing to contribute time and money to make it real, brings to mind the strength of community and the enduring feature of humanity (in spite of evidence to the contrary all over the news) which is to help each other. Teen Project is proof. For all the suffering there is in the world, there are people who have survived who want to help, and people who want to help the survivors.

As the Desiderata says- “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, its still a beautiful world.” It is.