News

A young person’s teenaged years are a critical moment in their life, and it’s especially important to Second Story that every young person has the safe havens and opportunities they need to graduate and pursue a hopeful future. Read Colby's story and the supplemental interview with Meghan to learn how Second Story steps in.

Every year families in our community struggle to send their kids back to school with everything they need to thrive. With your help, every August we give away backpacks filled with school supplies, provide information on resources available throughout the county, and celebrate a new school year. With your help we gave away more than 700 backpacks this year!

We relocated our administrative offices and have changed our in-kind donations hours. Donations will be accepted at Second Story for Teens in Crisis (2100 Gallows Rd, Vienna, VA) on Tuesday from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm, Wednesdays from 8:00 am until 11:00 am, and Sundays from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. 

This summer youth from our Safe Youth Projects are going on lots of field trips, trying fun activities, and learning lots even while school is out. Learn more about what a day in the life looks like this summer at the Springfield Safe Youth Project.

We are so proud of each of them, thankful for each member of our staff who supported them everyday, and, of course, thankful to you for making it possible for us to provide safety and opportunities to homeless youth and youth in crisis so they can achieve milestones like high school graduation.

Some issues faced by young people today are the same issues they’ve been facing for decades – conflict with their parents and mental health issues, for example – and some issues could have hardly been imagined when our shelter was founded, like cyber bullying and the pressures of social media. We believe it’s essential, then, that we adapt our approach to meet this evolving set of needs.

A new report found that in the past three school years (from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017) the number of identified school-aged youth experiencing homelessness at any point during the year increased by 7%, from a little over 1.2 million to a little over 1.3 million homeless youth. Virginia had an even more drastic increase -- more than 14%.

Second Story has a podcast called Second Stories! Second Stories is dedicated to telling stories of people who had first stories full of hardship and hopelessness, yet were able to change the narrative and write a new one.

Your donations helped make the holidays brighter for the young people in our programs this year. Hear about the holidays from program manager Michelle Stitt and the young people in our programs!

For the eighth year in a row, Second Story has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the leading charity evaluator in America. This is the highest rating possible; only 4% of charities in America receive this kind of long-standing achievement.

Another school year has arrived! A new year is a huge milestone for youth in all of our programs, but can be especially challenging for homeless youth.

Summer is over and young people in our community based and residential programs are back at school. Meanwhile, we’re reflecting on a sweet summer made even more special by the generosity of community partners through some pretty amazing field trips.

We could not be more proud of the young people in our programs graduating from high school! This year 100% of seniors in Second Story's programs are graduating -- 17 total. We can't wait to see what they do next, and we're eager to highlight just a few of Second Story's 2018 graduating seniors!

June is pride month, and this year we're talking about LGBTQ youth and homelessness. LGBTQ youth are 120% more at risk to be homeless, and face unique challenges. Learn more about how Second Story works with LGBTQ youth.

A recently released study found that 1 in 5 homeless youth were victims of human trafficking. Learn more about why homeless youth are so vulnerable and what Second Story is doing to help.