Broadway Youth Center, 4009 N. Broadway

WKA Participants  Erica Ulin, Emily Ray

WKA  met with six young people in the Drop In lounge. Two staff members  and Frankie were present as staff.

Waiting Room General Observations

• Lots of music playing
• Lots of talking between staff. Less talking between young people waiting. Most young people waiting are on their phones
• Young people leaving to smoke and coming back in
• One pair of partners for STD / HIV testing
• Bulletin boards
• No restroom in waiting area
• Notary services are provided

What would you change about BYC?

Many young people are homeless. They must be there by 9 am, but can’t see the medical clinic until 10:30 am. They’d suggest staring medical services earlier and enlarging the waiting area.  Consider providing a warming environment outside the waiting area.

Free therapy is currently offered as part of the Drop-In. These are the Healing Therapists.

One young person thought it would be better to provide the clinic services in a separate building or much more separated.  D. disagrees – she thinks having the clinic connected to Drop-In is a good thing.

D. would like to have a stage in the Drop-In. It could be used for community meetings and Youth Spotlight.  The stage does not need to be tall – just one step or one foot tall.

Youth Spotlight can be singing.

D. – when she comes for clinical services the wait can be very long, up to 1.5 hours. She can wait in the waiting room. She suggests having a heated area or a warming area outside the waiting room for overflow at Drop-In. One or two staff members should be present there to prevent altercations.

Nurse’s station needs to be bigger and there needs to be more than two nurses.

What makes BYC special?

No other shelter does what BYC does. Harrison and PGM were noted as awful, terrible examples of other shelters. PGM looks like a jail, has a guarded gate, and staff are ex-correctional officers.

BYC creates a non-judgement zone the minute you walk in. It is supportive, uses code names for appointments, and celebrates young peoples’ talent.

They use the computer room, the clothing closet, and the vouchers that staff provide to young people to replace things that are lost or stolen.

There is great food and no one leaves hungry. They also pay you for surveys.

D. – She felt that when she first came in they didn’t take the time to get to know her.

D. – other shelters don’t respect trans people. They don’t allow people to stay / sleep according to their gender identity.

M. – BYC has the best GED program. They reward you with gift cards at the end of the course and pay for your testing. The tutoring is primarily one on one.

What can BYC offer that they don’t currently have?

They want a pharmacy in the building. They want more receptionists to field calls as many times people don’t get through by calling the first time.

If someone doesn’t get in at 8 am, they leave, then they have to come back at 11 am.

It would be nice to have someone who can give you medical marijuana cards.

If people don’t have a medicaide card BYC will never deny any services. No one who comes to BYC has to pay.

BYC should offer surgical procedures or classes/consultations about what is involved with FFS and bottom surgery.  This would be great because people feel comfortable here.

One staff member also mentioned the possibility of having a salon area or some special events where cosmetology students like herself could practice/donate her time for clients of BYC.

What should improve about the Drop-In?

It should be bigger. There should be one tv for video games like PS4 and a separate tv for movies and television. There should be a separate space for eating. There could be a barbershop or hair salon with services provided by volunteers or staff who are paid. Also, young people in beauty school could volunteer.

There should be a large chalkboard like an interactive calendar where young people can easily see what programs are offered each day and can sign up.

The most important thing at BYC is that the rules are enforced. Everyone in the building must respect one another.  BYC values live beyond the walls of the building – the values of respect are carried out into the world. BYC young people strive to help communities across Chicago from the south, west, and north sides.

BYC should have locations on the south and west sides of Chicago so they are more accessible across the city.

There is a concern about aging out of the building. Not everyone is ready and equipped to leave at age 26. Young people wanted to consider a second floor for ages 26-30.

When you walk in the BYC door there’s a lot of love in this space. This needs to continue to be an LGBT space. The LGBT focus needs to be displayed prominently. Allies are welcome but they need to be allies and get that the space is LGBT focused.

More LGBT graphics around the space – famous LGBT people, trans people. They want people to feel happy when they come in and see bisexual flags, pan sexual flags, and convey the message that we and our allies can do anything together.

How do you cultivate this respect in your community? 

Just being around each other cultivates this compassion and openness. Young people are encouraged to show these leadership qualities of compassion and openness.  There is a family vibe and a young vibe here. Young people don’t like the adult shelters because they are not safe.

Young people would like to raise the capacity to 35 people in the Drop-In space. Two staff members are supposed to be in Drop-In at all times. Young people feel they need more security near the Drop-In at all times. They also felt that sometimes staff doesn’t know when to intercede until a fight is already erupting, more dialed in to the “cues”. They feel there should be bag checks to make sure no one brings in drugs or weapons. They always need staff in the Drop-In to stop altercations before they start.

Key Values:

Family

Respect

Equality

Youthful

Best GED program out there

Cultivating values to bring out across Chicago

Key Logistics:

Bag Check area at entry

Chalkboard / digital display for event sign-up

Stage in Drop-In

Want pharmacy in the building

Drop-In – one TV for video games and one TV for Netflix