Waypoint issues urgent need for warm-weather survival gear for homeless youth

MANCHESTER, NH – With bitter cold in the New Hampshire weather forecast this week, and limited capacity to shelter youth experiencing homelessness, Waypoint is putting out this urgent request to the community for donations of survival gear including the following:  sleeping bags, winter jackets, tents, hand and foot warmers, gloves, hats, and blankets.

Donations may be dropped off between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., this Thursday and Friday, at the agency headquarters at 464 Chestnut Street in Manchester, or at the Youth Resource Center on 3 Wallace Street in Rochester.

Waypoint made over 1,500 contacts with youth experiencing homelessness in New Hampshire last year and has seen an influx of young people since the opening of the agency’s new overnight emergency shelter and youth resource centers last fall.  The agency’s 14-bed shelter cannot accommodate the current and growing need. Staff reports that most of the young people they see feel that they have no options for returning home or accessing shelter where they feel safe.

“While the goal is to end youth homelessness altogether,” says Borja Alvarez de Toledo, president and CEO of Waypoint, “as long as there are young people out there fighting the elements in places not fit for human habitation, it is imperative that we do what we can to mitigate their suffering, optimize their safety, and help them to survive. This is a true matter of survival.”

For further information, visit www.waypointnh.org or call 1-800-640-6486.