Youth On Their Own took to Twitter last week urging people to consider donating nonperishable food items to their “Mini-Mall,” which provides teens with basic items like food and clothing items. Jacki Vaughan-Chaldy, YOTO’s College and Career Development Coordinator, said they are seeing more than 30 teens a day visiting their Mini-Mall, looking specifically [...]

It’s not often that a cashier shakes a customer’s hand after a purchase. But this one did. He wasn’t just any cashier, though. He was one of 10 paid interns at the new Youth On Their Own (YOTO) Resale Home Store on North Alvernon Way. The store, which opened last October, is a boutique [...]

“I wish I had like a mother figure,” said Esmeralda Gallardo, a participant in the program.  “I kind of feel like it’s more of a separation so I’m kind of like on my own.” Esmeralda has done it on her own, along with more than 1,500 other kids and teens in Pima County. When [...]

“Thirteen students are classified as homeless in the Sahuarita Unified School District. YOTO defines homeless youth as students who, through no fault of their own, lack a parent or long-term legal guardian physically involved in their lives and a stable, permanent nighttime residence. “Homeless doesn’t mean they are sleeping under a bridge and they [...]

Luisa Daniel shared with us how the $2,000 Noah Warren Cohen Scholarship helped her this past semester. “My first semester was amazing…I got all As and one B and I was pretty proud of myself. “Because of this scholarship, I could focus on school rather than on how I was going to pay for school. [...]

To earn his diploma from Sunnyside High School, Edgar Casas, 19, fought for his life. As a high school freshman, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At the time, he was living in Phoenix with his grandmother and had never been seriously sick before. His schooling ceased when treatments began at Cardon Children’s [...]

For an entire week, the high school senior filled out résumés — four or five a day. “I was in desperate need for a job,” she said. The hitch: Every place she applied wanted previous experience. “Even fast food wants an employment history,” she said. “I didn’t have it.” Now she does. The 17-year-old [...]

The turkeys are not yet stuffed, but supporters of holiday toy drives for children hope Tucsonans will add a toy or gift card to holiday shopping lists. “While people are thinking about spending Thanksgiving with family and friends, maybe they can think about giving to a cause for people in need. When they are [...]

Whether homeless rates are improving in Pima County and Arizona depends on your definition. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its latest findings last week, providing the nation and Arizona with a snapshot of homelessness based on surveys conducted here and nationwide one night last January. Their findings look good — [...]