27, 871 documented homeless youth in Orange County public schools K-12.  This has doubled over the last five  years.

5,400 are high school students, who when they turn 18 are still homeless.

Unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds has exploded to 42.6% as of April 2010.  This may be the hardest hit segment of the population during this recession.

Because of your past support, Build Futures will remember 2011 as the year we:

• Were able to serve all the youth referred to us, connected all but five of them with housing,  a large percentage with jobs and all with basic needs and services, a self sufficiency plan and a one-on-one supportive adult to provide on-going support and guidance.

• Grew our volunteer base to over 40 active volunteers, a database of over 350 volunteers for one time or limited events or projects and raised funds to cover more than 6 months of program expenses in 2012 at the current level, plus launched Bikes Build Futures, a used bike business social enterprise to create jobs for our youth all while operating as an all volunteer grassroots organization.

• Designed and began implementing a database to build infrastructure and capacity for our organization to facilitate growth, the number of youth we serve, client tracking and outcome measurement.

As the demand for our services continues to grow, Build Futures needs your support this holiday season.   Significantly more youth were referred to Build Futures for help in 2011, a portion due to our inclusion in the countywide 211 hotline referral service, and we expect even more demand in 2012.

Youth referred sought help to move off the streets and find safe and habitable housing, gain employment, access to academic and vocational training and other services and support.  With every $1 you donate to Build Futures, 93 cents goes directly to providing basic needs and services to the youth we serve.