Story #24: 30 Days at Y2Y
Y2Y Network is a shelter in Harvard Square that serves young adults experiencing homelessness. Originally founded at Harvard Square in 2015, Y2Y has since added an additional location in New Haven.
“Dude, I walked in here and I was like ‘Holy shit, this place looks amazing,’” Kim, a 22-year-old, tells us over our fourth consecutive game of BananaGrams. She’s remembering her first night at Y2Y, Harvard Square’s only youth homeless shelter. “I had a bed that was on the bottom floor, and I crawled in there and I literally just stayed,” she recalls.
Only a few months have passed since Y2Y first opened its doors in December, but many of the young adults who fill the shelter’s beds each night feel as though they have found a home—at least for the 30 nights at a time they can sleep there.
“There’s food whenever you want to eat. There’s showers available whenever you want to shower. It’s basically kind of like a home,” Jayzena Hernandez, another guest at the shelter, says.
Read all about guests’ stays and Y2Y’s adapting policies from its inception in this article: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/24/y2y-homeless-shelter/
