About Young People to the front
What is YP2F?
A campaign to end youth homelessness in LA using inside and outside advocacy strategies.
A brief history…
LACEYH is a coalition that unites service providers, government agencies, and stakeholders dedicated to supporting homeless youth throughout LA County. In August of 2019, Lens Co took over as coordinators of LACEYH, with the goal of increasing the capacity, collaboration, and visibility of the coalition.
The 1st Annual LACEYH Policy and Advocacy Summit took place on November 15th, 2019 at The California Endowment. Launching #YoungPeopletotheFront.
“Providing young adults with housing is critical to their safety and will allow them to focus on school, employment, and other opportunities essential to young adulthood. We owe it to our youth to invest in services that will stabilize their lives and put them on a path to success.”
After the summit, LACEYH continued advocating for young people. Asking local leaders to consider the needs of youth experiencing homelessness and to provide more resources. We had a lot of success and via the City and County, increased youth homelessness funding by 20.4 million.
After the COVID pandemic, LACEYH in collaboration with Holly Homeless Youth Partnership identified the need to get deeper into our advocacy and through many meetings with youth and providers, we identified 5 policy priorities to guide advocacy for the next few years.
Why is it called “Young People to the Front”?
During the female punk movement of early 90s - Riot Grrrl - Girls to the Front. In male-dominated punk scene where men thrashed violently in the mosh pit, girls attending shows were getting lost, hurt, overlooked, and shoved. Hanna enforced a Girls to the Front policy at her shows, refusing to start playing until all the girls were at the front of the stage. Young People to the Front reimagines this movement. In Los Angeles, the homelessness crisis and response system is a mosh pit. We are demanding that young people are at the front. Doesn’t ignore what is happening overall but ensures that the most vulnerable don’t get lost, hurt, or overlooked.
Join the Youth Expert Board
The Youth Expert Board is an advisory board to LACEYH and the main advising body of Young People to the Front.
