Bike Grease and Coffee Beans: How P:EAR Helps Homeless Youth Build Skills

 

It’s easy to get cynical about the state of the homelessness crisis in Portland, let alone the country at large. We see streets lined with people sleeping on the sidewalk, read headlines about debates over budget cuts, and hear countless thoughts on what’s going wrong. Rarely however do we hear much about what’s going right.

While the city government is focused on budget plans, there's a quiet, radical movement brewing in the heart of it all.

P:EAR, a local outreach organization, doesn't treat homelessness like a policy problem that needs to be solved. Instead, they focus on the people that exist behind the headlines. Striving to build skills and forge human connections.

Many traditional homeless services focus on immediate survival, keeping someone alive for the night. P:EAR provides many traditional services, but takes a step further and asks what happens after someone’s been fed? For a young kid living on the streets who’s been cast off by society and told they’re invisible, a meal isn't going to get you stable housing. That’s where "P:EAR Works" comes in. Through a number of mentorship and skill building programs, P:EAR teaches homeless youth valuable and marketable skills they can then leverage to create paths to a stable future.

The P:EAR Gallery teaches youth work with local artists and professionals, learning how to screen print graphics for products, or use professional digital design software like Adobe.

Coffee work is a 10 week intensive barista training program which looks to give participants skills and experience in a coffee shop, giving them an edge in a competitive market.

Bike works is not only a full-service bike shop run by P:EAR where the public can go for anything from a flat repair to a full wheel rebuild, it is yet another training ground for P:EAR participants where they are able to learn the in’s and out’s of bike repair and all the mechanical skills that go along with it. Skills that couldn’t be more suited to a bike-loving city like Portland.

This all comes on top teaching resume building, interview skills, conflict resolution, finance, and customer service. P:EAR doesn't just see the people accessing their services as “homeless youth” but as neighbors and valuable members of our society.

A mentorship isn’t just "charity." It’s a way to ensure our city doesn’t just survive, but also thrives. We can ignore the problem, or we can support the people building a real way out.

Click here to see how P:EAR is changing lives.