We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Vallejo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jason , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I have worked with the homeless population for 5 plus years and was the Executive Director of an organization in Dallas that lead opening of the first LGBTQ+ transitional housing program. I resigned from that organization at the very end of 2019 because my husband had taken a job in the Austin, Tx area. To make a long story short, he didn’t end up liking his new job and we ended up staying in Dallas. Feelings of frustration and confusion came over me because I left a job that I was so passionate about.
Even though I was no longer with that former organization, I still stayed very active by volunteering with a couple of other organizations. There was still a huge gap in the homeless system when it came to youth ages 18 to 24. That gap was that their was no emergency shelter in North Texas that served this age group. That caused me to start thinking about ways we could create a shelter for youth in crisis.
It wasn’t till a hot summer day in June of 2020 that I put faith into action. I saw a youth laying in an empty field and went up to speak with him. He said that he was just trying to get some rest since he had spent the night at an adult emergency shelter the night before and was afraid of being robbed or assaulted so didn’t get any sleep. This is something we hear way to often from youth. Many of them say they feel safer on the street versus an adult shelter. Because many of those shelters are filled with the older chronically homeless that often have sever mental health issues or substance abuse.
That day when I got home, I started emailing people I thought would make good board members and said hey this is what I’m wanting to do will you join me in this effort. We filled out paper work with our sate and then once that was approved we filled out our paperwork with the IRS. While we waited to be approved as a 501 (c)(3) by the IRS, we started working on what our programs would look like and started to build that foundation. Elevate North Texas has three core program: Hotel Voucher Program, Reunification/Diversion & Host Home Program. We received our Letter of Determination from the IRS in September of 2020 but it wasn’t till September of 2021 that Elevate North Texas started serving youth. So far we’ve been able to help close to 90 youth and we know that we are just getting started and have a lot of work left to do. Lives are truly being elevated here in North Texas!

Jason , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, youth homelessness in North Texas has grown exponentially. Texas has the fourth highest numbers of reported homeless young adults between the ages of 18-24 in the entire country. Each year, approximately 300 youth age out of the foster care system in North Texas, and studies show that half of them either become homeless or incarcerated within a year.

Although this is a prevalent problem, young adults are incredibly skilled at blending in with their peers to hide their situation. Youth homelessness often looks like young adults couch-surfing or sleeping in a discreet, private area like a car or a storage unit, which has led experts to refer to homeless youths as the “invisible” homeless population. This lack of awareness means they often struggle with housing insecurity in silence.

I know that many young people over the age of 18 do not feel safe going to a shelter for homeless adults. Young adults facing homelessness have their own unique set of challenges that differ from those of the chronically homeless, and it was common for youth to feel like they did not belong in those spaces. While there have been transitional living programs for youth between the ages of 18-24 in the North Texas area, there was no emergency shelter program for this age group. Several organizations also offer emergency shelter for minors, but once a young person was over the age of 18, they were left with adult homeless shelters as their only resource.

Elevate North Texas was founded to address the unique circumstances faced by homeless young adults in a way that felt safe and accessible to them. Through three programs–Emergency Shelter, Diversion & Reunification, and Host Homes–Elevate fills the gap in services for homeless youth in the DFW area. Data shows that the majority of chronically homeless adults first experienced homelessness between the ages of 18-24, and Elevate aims to stop the cycle of homelessness before it starts by intervening at this critical time period.

It is through our system of case management that we have been able to guide youth to more independent futures where they are at a lower risk of re-experiencing homelessness. After going through the intake process, each youth meets with their case manager to develop their unique plan of action to put them on the path to housing stability.

These plans include additional resources such as healthcare, mental health counseling, and job placement assistance, among other resources. We have successfully connected many youth to longer transitional living programs with our partner organizations, while others in our shelter have participated in the Diversion & Reunification program, which connects our youth to supportive family members or friends that are willing and able to take them in.

It is by directly addressing each youth’s individual needs for their situation that we stop the underlying issues causing homelessness. Our goal is to equip each young person with a plan for staying off the streets in the future before exiting our programs.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was the Outreach Director at a large church when I came out as gay. Once I started living as my authentic self, I was made to feel very unwelcome at the church. I was even told that a person like me should never be in a position of leadership. However, I never let that bother me or stop me from going after the dreams I know that God has placed in my heart. In fact it was 10 years ago that I wrote in my journal that I would one day start a shelter for youth. Little did I know that God would move me to Dallas and that I would do just that.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe in servant leadership. That means leading by example and not just having people do as you say. It also means building and nurturing relationships with your volunteers, employees, clients, donors, community partners and others. It is because of the relationships I made while working with my previous that I believe Elevate North Texas was able to get up and running so quickly. I believe it truly takes all of us working together if we really want to create change for you in crisis.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elevatentx.org
• Instagram: @elevatentx
• Facebook: @ElevateNTx
• Twitter: @elevate_texas

Image Credits
Jason Vallejo