5-YEAR INITIATIVE
Transforming the Way Home.
WHAT WE'RE DOING
Two core aims driving the work
01
Commit to collaborative learning across pilot communities to support sustainable, community-driven policy solutions aligned with the New Deal.
02
Support community organizing through technical assistance, guidance, and base-building with Youth and Young Adults with Lived Expertise (YYALE).
HOW WE CHOOSE COMMUNITIES
Community Identification
Our 3 pilot communities self-selected based on existing efforts to shift and share power with YYALE — building local capacity to develop and advocate for transformative policies that prevent and end youth homelessness locally and nationally.
WHAT'S REQUIRED
Community Commitments
To participate in TWH, communities must align with AWHA's core values and operational expectations.
Core Values
Recognize and center intersectionality
Engage in principled struggle
Generate transformative visions
Shift and share power to YYALE
Name and challenge white supremacy
Practice targeted universalism
Create a culture of accountability
Center YYALE leadership
Operational Commitments
Align with the New Deal framework and center it in community work
Direct action organizing that centers YYALE leadership
Ongoing theory of change and challenge to traditional power structures
Support AWHA's congressional policy agenda and advocacy
Attend AWHA national convenings and all in-person TWH gatherings
Implement the TWH framework beyond the 5-year period
IN THE FIELD
Site Visit Convenings
Winning transformative policy requires building social and political power from the ground up. Site visits are the first step in activating our theory of change within local communities — not information gathering, but a collaborative model centered on three pillars.
Basebuilding and investing in community abundance
Power building
Thought partnership
Co-designing policy with YYALE and fostering collaborative learning
Organizing
Supporting community efforts that challenge those in power