June was full of pride and solidarity as we celebrated LGBTQI+ youth. From fundraisers to festivals, community partners raised support for Avenues’ programs. Together, we’re creating safe and affirming spaces where all youth can thrive!
Best Buy Pride Showcase and Resource Fair
Thank you to Best Buy and Cargill for hosting Avenues for Youth (and other notable organizations) at their Pride Employee Resource Group Fairs!
Both companies are proudly local and dedicated to uplifting their communities. Each hosted an incredible Pride resource fair featuring LGBTQI+ and allied organizations for their campus-wide employees to interact with, ask questions, take information, and get involved. This kind of a commitment to the LGBTQI+ community in a time of cultural assault makes such a big difference both materially and with morale! Avenues team members spoke with scores of supporters and passed out hundreds of flyers, buttons, and stickers. This is a great kick-off to a fabulous Pride month.
Boston Consulting Group x Avenues for Youth
Thank you, again, to Boston Consulting Group for your hands-on help with the shelter in North Minneapolis. Ten hearty hands helped clean up the grounds of all weeds and garbage, helped mulch, and sweep out our rain garden. Two brave volunteers even cleaned out the dumpster shed!
This sort of help, while not glamourous, is incredibly important. It helps our staff prioritize other projects and ensures that our house truly feels like a home for the young people living there. This is the second year in a row BCG came out to help and we are forever grateful.
Cushman & Wakefield x Avenues for Youth
“Thank you” is not a strong enough sentiment to express our gratitude for the incredible generosity and kindness from our friends at Cushman & Wakefield! The UNITY ERG of their Twin Cities offices came out in full force to not only learn about Avenues, offer hands-on help, but also create opportunities for the youth.
The Twin Cities office of this global commercial real estate company volunteered at the Minneapolis shelter and built 25 welcome baskets for youth entering the shelter. They spent two and a half hours building, cleaning, organizing, and helping to inventory. They also had a great conversation with ConneQT Host Home Manager, Ryan Berg, about LGBTQI+ homelessness in honor of Pride Month.
Most importantly, Cushman & Wakefield have identified a creative and impactful opportunity for youth at Avenues via jobs within their company and discounted housing! We are excited to continue this partnership and appreciate their thoughtfulness and enthusiastic support!
Proud to Partner with Cannon Equipment
Thank you to all of our friends at Cannon Equipment in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. This company that manufactures material-handling carts knows a thing or two about engineering and assembly line operation. With ease they ordered, stuffed, and created 200 hygiene kits for use by new youth coming into Avenues and youth visiting us at our drop-in services.
We are so proud to start this new partnership with Cannon and appreciate their motivation to uplift and spotlight LGBTQI+ youth experiencing homelessness.
Comcast Comes Through Again!
Thank you to the Sales and Marketing Team at Comcast for celebrating their quarter end with a volunteer day at Avenues for Youth. Eighteen team members showed up and showed out. While the groundskeeping project was rained out, Comcast quickly pivoted and met at the Avenues location downtown.
For two hours Comcast assembled emergency kits for youth visiting our drop-in services and hand wrote 200 notes of encouragement to go with each bag. Thank you Comcast for all the ways you show up for Avenues for Youth and your whole community!
Delta Making the Difference!
Thank you to our friends at Delta Airlines for your enthusiastic support and helping hands. In early June, a dozen Delta team members came to Avenues and gave our offices a much-needed facelift. Painting the Youth Engagement Offices with a soft lavender and muted sage color tones gives the house a whole different vibe.
Delta not only brought a good work ethic, but also plenty of smiles, laughs, and an infectious energy. As expected with Delta, they finished early and made another on-time departure. Keep climbing Delta!
Empyrean = Awesome Volunteers!
We have nothing but enthusiasm for Empyrean at Avenues for Youth. This incredible team, from a benefits administrating company, came to our North Minneapolis shelter and got to work. The eleven supporters tackled our supplies closets and helped inventory, organize, clean, and build out some welcome baskets (for new youth entering Avenues).
This kind of support is critical for Avenues, and we are so honored to have Emyprean’s support. Thank you, Tammy, and everyone for making sure the shelter continues to feel like a true home for youth.
Our Go-To for BeerGo!
Thank you to the incredibly generous and community-driven team at Luce Line Brewing for your support. In honor of Pride Month, Avenues was selected to be the brewery’s monthly charitable partner for their BeerGo games (i.e. Bingo!). Avenues team members got to call out numbers, award winners, and (importantly) collected almost $500 to support Avenues for Youth.
We are hoping to get this opportunity again with Luce Line. Their brewery is idyllic, the beer is delicious, and their community is so welcoming.
Straight Outta the Student Council!
Thank you to the students and faculty from the Lucy Laney Elementary School in North Minneapolis for not only spotlighting youth homelessness but providing an impressive amount of support for youth at Avenues. In June a couple of faculty members and a handful of the student council members visiting Avenues to drop off boxes of diapers and bags of essential items (like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap).
Support from other young people means so much to us at Avenues, as there is a special magic in youth supporting their peers.
Feeling the Love with LabCorp!
This new partner brought global attention to LGBTQI+ youth homelessness. The Twin Cities office welcomed Avenues to host an on-campus event to lead a conversation and engage in an activity to support youth in Minneapolis. The presentation was broadcast to all their offices and recorded for other shift workers to watch!
The Pride ERG at LabCorp is also running a donation drive to support the ConneQT Host Home program. Avenues for Youth is really proud of this partnership and grateful for LabCorp’s labor of love.
Celebrating Pride with PAR Systems
The team at PAR Systems, LLC put together 400 pride packs for us to hand out at Twin Cities Pride Festival. Each bag was full of celebratory items like pride bracelets, pins, and more.
Thank you to PAR Systems for helping to create an affirming space where LGBTQI+ youth can flourish!
Want to Get Involved?
Avenues will house and support 300 youth in Minnesota this year, and it takes a community to do this work. As a faith group, corporate partner, business group, or civic group, you can partner with Avenues in a way that feels right for your organization.
To learn more about ways to partner with Avenues for Youth visit: https://avenuesforyouth.org/community-partners/