Why it works

To take responsibility for their own survival, young people make choices to leave environments that threaten their safety and well-being. They carry with them the survival skills and independent thinking borne of the broken trust in the world that they have experienced.

These elements are personal starting points owned by the individual. Our process accepts and nurtures the resilience and survival skills of the individual, and supports the independence of the individual in their move from the street to participation in the mainstream economy and community. THE DOORWAY provides a non-judgmental and forward-looking environment with a process that is geared to take the individual beyond the crisis questions of homelessness and poverty.

We view young people as valuable and responsible individuals who are capable of learning, setting and achieving goals. Goal setting is treated like business planning, and problem solving is handled using the critical path model.

Volunteer Cultural Interpreters facilitate this process, assuming the role of community elders, bridging the gap between the street and mainstream cultures. Each participant is able to draw upon the experience and wisdom of our Cultural Interpreters.

Self-determination is crucial to the process. The individual learns to identify starting points and goals and to develop a workable plan of action that they can own and be accountable to complete.

By providing incentives for each step of the process, THE DOORWAY acknowledges the survival economics of the street culture, and provides a modest legal source of cash to the individual. Incentives are a fundamental component of building trust and motivating the participation of the individual.

The finite nature of the cash incentives also helps the participant achieve independence. From the outset, they work toward increasingly consistent and stable income patterns as they find their own ability and means of employability in the mainstream marketplace.

In a nutshell, THE DOORWAY process works because:

• the individual is the starting point
• it is a consistent environment
• it is long-term (24 months)
• it implements the unique sociology of cultural movement from street culture to mainstream society
• it allows integration by building understanding and trust over time with exposure to non-street people in a safe environment
• it nurtures self-determination
• it nurtures self-direction by allowing responsibility for one’s own choices and accountability for consequences
• it offers a successful learning process: a safe environment to evaluate failures and make appropriate conclusions to inform the next choice

Since 1988 more than 800 participants have contracted with THE DOORWAY. The process has consistently worked for seven out of ten young people.