We recently connected with Savannah Lewis and have shared our conversation below.
Savannah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
I haven’t been in the foster care system but I am drawn to help those who have been afflicted by it. I’ve been there when children’s life are uprooted when they enter the foster care system and they are taken away from their parents. It’s so confusing and traumatizing for them. I’ve also seen young adults exiting the foster care system as they age out, trying to navigate the world and feeling overwhlemed and that life isn’t fair. Did you know on average, foster youth move 7 times before aging out? This affects their stability, their support system, how many time they change schools, and their overall outlook on life. This is the case for almost 400,000 children in the United States! Though many do reunify with their family or extended families, many of these individuals age out of foster care. This leaves them vulnerable to incarceration, unemployment, and homelessness. Mile Marker Home is a nonprofit agency I founded it in 2020 to prevent homelessness among foster youth who have aged out of the system. We provide travel trailers as a transitional housing solution and it’s successful! From my experience working with so many former foster youth, I know they need a housing option that can be as flexible and portable as they are. Many of them are ready to move at a moments notice and now their home on wheels can go with them wherever they go. It’s also their own private space – no more group homes or staying in a strangers extra room. This option gives them stability to feel safe and they can focus on moving to the next “mile marker” in their life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a Social Worker! I earned my undergraduate at University of Alaska Fairbanks and began working in child protection though I didn’t last long. I went back to my previous skill, massage therapy. Different skills but I get satisfaction from both avenues. After time passed, I wanted to give Social Work another try but it needed to be different. I earned my masters degree from University of Southern California in Macro Social Work. This essentially means instead of working with individuals, I focus on serving a wider scope by evaluating and changing systems that affect communities. Assessing my community, I saw the need for more housing solutions for former foster youth. 1 in 4 young adults will experience homelessness within a few years of aging out of foster care. I know Mile Marker Home is reducing those statistics because our housing model is accessible and removes barriers.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
During the pandemic, my partner and I were enjoying some sunshine and conversation on the patio. He asked me a question that spurred the beginning of Mile Marker Home. He asked, “When you’re 90 and looking back on your life, what do you want to be really proud of?” On instinct, I responded that I had always wanted to have an agency that supports former foster youth. My partner pushed it further and asked, “Why not now?” From there, I brainstormed in what way could I help foster youth? What did they need the most? What were their biggest barriers? I was reminded of a time I was coordinating a college program that assists foster youth to get into college. One of the students was a 20 year old female who had moved to another state to attend a technical school program. There had a been a traumatic accident and she called me from the hospital. While talking about her options, she said, ” I wish I could get into an RV and drive away.” This stuck in my brain and was how I decided to focus on “homes on wheels” as the goal for my agency.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
People really want to help! We rely on private funding to purchase travel trailers during fundraisers like Idaho Gives or holiday campaigns. We also work with businesses who can offer support such as Dennis Dillon RV, Kings Tire Pro, Simplot, and Boise Rotary, etc. Our ideal goal is to acquire a hotel property that could be renovated into studio apartments for former foster youth. Our biggest fundraiser is coming up on May 4th at The Reef in Boise. We have partnered with some local musicians for a benefit fundraiser called Ripple Effect. We hope to raise enough funds ($5000) to purchase a travel trailer for one of the foster youth on our waiting list!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.milemarkerhome.org
- Instagram: @milemarkerhome
- Facebook: Mile Marker Home