Home for Josiah Showell was a cardboard box, behind the parking lot of a bank in York.
When found there and encouraged to stay at a transitional living shelter by employees of Valley Youth House, Josiah – who grew up in Philadelphia -- had been homeless throughout Eastern Pennsylvania for 2 ½ years … since he was just 17 years old.
Today, at age 26, Josiah is thriving. He lives independently in his own apartment, takes public transportation to work as a cook at a popular casual dining restaurant, and is providing financial and emotional support to three infant sons.
“Back then, I was a knucklehead,” says Josiah, during an off day from work while preparing to take his boys to the fair. “My actions weren’t criminal, but I was drinking and smoking all the time. I just didn’t care. But with help from Valley Youth House, I decided to wake up.”
Josiah is one of about 17,000 at-risk teenagers supported annually by Valley Youth House, a non-profit organization that believes every young person deserves a place to belong, live well and be seen. Founded in 1973 as a single-home shelter, it today has 500 employees serving the needs of youth in Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and 14 counties total with wide-ranging services.
According to Thomas Harrington, president and executive director of Valley Youth House, “Our focus is on youth facing serious challenges in their lives – including homelessness, neglect, abuse and, increasingly, sex trafficking. We keep them safe, help them complete their education, get training for a job and, eventually, live independently.”
While 80% of Valley Youth House’s annual budget is provided by federal, state and local government funding, the organization relies on donations from corporate sponsors to provide the additional resources needed. One longtime supporter is Truist, a top-10 commercial bank in the U.S., whose purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities.
It’s a mission that is important to Travis Rhodes, who serves as Truist’s regional president for the Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley Region. A father of four, Rhodes immediately offered his personal support, and that of the bank, upon touring a Valley Youth House shelter in Bethlehem a few years ago. Leading the tour that day was a resident, a female teenager who had been rescued from sex traffickers.
“To learn that this young lady had been victimized just broke my heart,” says Rhodes, who serves as an ad-hoc member of the Valley Youth House board of directors. “No child should ever have to be exposed to the elements of this world without the protection of a caring adult. But Valley Youth House brought her into this shelter, gave her a home and changed her life. Given the impact they are having on the lives of children, I had to be a part of it.”
Besides financial support for several Valley Youth House programs (including its Camp Fowler summer camp for ages 6 to 14), and the participation of Rhodes and other Truist employees who serve as volunteers, Harrington attended a week-long training course at the Truist Leadership Institute in Greensboro, North Carolina, which he described as “a really good experience that I continue to draw on every day.”
While experienced in nonprofit leadership initiatives, first at the Boy Scouts of America and since 2016 at Valley Youth House, Harrington found that the immersive course in “Mastering Leadership Dynamics” broadened his ability to help the organization pivot to address the ever-evolving issues facing many teens.
And those challenges can continue well beyond the teen years. For example, statistics provided by Valley Youth House reveal that nearly 1 out of 30 children in American will experience homelessness, 1 out of 20 will be placed in foster care, and – shockingly -- 1 out of 5 high school students are actively considering suicide. That has prompted Valley Youth House to broaden its mental health services, including increased training to staff members in trauma-informed healing centered engagement, a more holistic approach to fostering well-being.
“By adding several new behavior health programs, we’re working to get involved with families and solve their issues before it gets to a point where kids have to be taken out of the home. That’s why we offer free therapeutic counseling sessions for students in 61 Lehigh Valley schools,” Harrington explains. “We couldn’t do as much without the support of companies like Truist, which has been a great supporter for a number of years.”
As Josiah’s story illustrates, these and numerous other programs are making a positive difference in the lives of countless teens and young adults. And those efforts continue to inspire Rhodes and Truist to further their commitment to Valley Youth House.
“If we can wrap our arms around these young people and show them a future that is different than the dead ends in front of them, we must do it,” Rhodes implores. “That is at the core of who (Truist) is as an organization.”
Josiah agrees that reaching out to accept a helping hand when he needed it most gave him the confidence to turn his life around. “I’ve heard it all my life, but it’s true that a closed mouth does not get fed. If you need help with something, let it be known. There’s someone out there, like the people at Valley Youth House, who can help you get it. If you believe in yourself, and work hard, you can find that spark to change. Don’t give up!”
For more information about Valley Youth House, visit https://valleyyouthhouse.org. This article is sponsored content paid for by Truist.