YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT (YYA)
POOLED FUND

The Youth and Young Adult (YYA) Collective Funding Pool (The YYA Pooled Fund) is setting a new path for investing in the homeless response system, one led by young people with lived expertise, in partnership with funders and providers. Under the leadership of the Los Angeles Emissary (LAE), The YYA Pooled Fund has successfully implemented 6 funding rounds, distributing over $4.6 million to nonprofits serving unhoused young people.

BACKGROUND

Lasting social change occurs only when solutions to community challenges are developed in partnership with and leadership from those who are most impacted. The Youth and Young Adult (YYA) Collective Funding Pool (The YYA Pooled Fund) is setting a new path for investing in the homeless response system, one led by young people with lived expertise, in partnership with funders and providers.

The Youth and Young Adult (YYA) Pooled Fund was launched in 2022 with seed funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Cedars Sinai and backbone support provided by The Center for Strategic Partnerships. Since then, we have engaged in a true collaborative and participatory grantmaking effort, bringing together representatives from several capacity building organizations, philanthropy, and a team of young people with lived expertise, the LA Emissary (LAE). Together, we have provided technical assistance and granted more than $4 million to support efforts of small- to mid-sized organizations to address YYA homelessness, reaching more than 2000 young people with both vital services and a pathway to make change at the organizational and systems levels.

In addition to youth leadership from the LA Emissary, project collaborators include Cedars-Sinai, Center for Strategic Partnerships, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Housing Justice Collective, Los Angeles County Office of the CEO’s Homeless Initiative, Lens Co, Shelter Partnership, True Colors United, and Watson Consulting Group.

PURPOSE & PROCESS

We seek to ensure that young people with lived experience of homelessness—particularly LGBTQ+ youth, youth of color, and systems-impacted youth— gain access to leadership and decision-making roles to find solutions to prevent and end youth homelessness.

Los Angeles County is home to one of the largest populations of homeless youth in the country. The 2024 Point-in-Time Count identified 2500 unhoused young people (18-26) in LA County. YYA are more likely to be female, Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+. 1 in 5 unhoused adults first experienced homelessness as a youth, so it’s critical that we find innovative solutions to youth homelessness.

Addressing this crisis requires a multifaceted approach that must include the leadership of young people to ensure successful program design and implementation. By providing a platform for transformation led by youth, the Pooled Fund continues to work towards a system that works for youth, designed so that homelessness is rare, brief, and nonrecurring.