State Farm Provides Support to Youth Transitioning to Independence

State Farm recently awarded CEDARS Youth Services with a $10,000 grant aimed at ensuring the availability of safe housing and supportive services for homeless youth and youth aging out of the child welfare system as they navigate the transition to adulthood.

CEDARS President Jim Blue says, “Support for these youth is critical. Most teenagers have many formal and informal support systems that provide a safety net as they move out on their own. For too many of the youth in our care, those supports are either non-existent or very inconsistent. They have no one, other than us, to lean on when the grocery cupboards go bare or questions about obtaining employment or additional education arise. It is essential that we are here to support them.”

CEDARS Bridges Transitional Living Program provides both formal and informal guidance and support tailored to meet each youth’s individual development needs during their transition to independence. Developmental support may include physical health, safety, social and emotional health, formal education and vocation goal setting, responsible budgeting and housing choices, and assistance in areas unique to homeless youth.

“State Farm believes in the importance of community,” said State Farm Public Affairs Specialist Kelly Pargett. “We support what CEDARS is doing to give these young people the opportunity to achieve their greatest potential.”

CEDARS has been working to help kids in crisis and build strong families since 1947. The agency serves Southeast Nebraska through the provision of out-of-home residential programs, family support and prevention services, early childhood development, and juvenile justice programming to approximately 1,000 children and youth each day.