Oct 13, 2026 · 13 min · 8 segments
A homeless young man manages to find his way to the drop-in center of Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Vermont, then into our shelter, followed by his own apartment and a full-time job. Going to…
Mark RedmondHost
Spectrum Youth and Family Services is in Burlington, Vermont, and I am the executive director, and we work with homeless youth.
Brad's parents divorced when he was a child, and he had been raised by his mother.
Brad and his mother had trouble getting along until it got to the point where, as he put it, "I needed a break from her, and she needed a break from me." He showed up at our drop-in center in Burlington.
We gave him a meal, and when he told us he had nowhere to stay that night, we told him we had a bed available in our shelter, and we took him in.
Brad told us he was receiving monthly supplemental security income checks, SSI, which is the Social Security program for individuals who are disabled, either physically, mentally, or emotionally.
It guarantees a monthly check from the federal government for the rest of your life.
"I want to work and earn a living, not receive a government check." Our staff took him to the local Social Security office.
The government workers there were flummoxed because no one had ever asked this before.
We don't even know how to do that." It took months, and they had to get their instructions from the main Social Security office in Washington, DC, but it eventually happened.
I usually make dinner in our drop-in center once a month, which is where I get to meet and know some of the youth, which is how I got to know him.
Brad left Spectrum about two years later with a Section eight voucher in hand, which allowed him to get his own apartment at a subsidized rent.
He had a job and moved into his own place less than a mile from Spectrum, and I stayed in touch with him, getting together for lunch every few months.
Spectrum Youth and Family Services is in Burlington, Vermont, and I am the executive director, and we work with homeless youth.
Brad's parents divorced when he was a child, and he had been raised by his mother.
Brad and his mother had trouble getting along until it got to the point where, as he put it, "I needed a break from her, and she needed a break from me." He showed up at our drop-in center in Burlington.
We gave him a meal, and when he told us he had nowhere to stay that night, we told him we had a bed available in our shelter, and we took him in.
Brad told us he was receiving monthly supplemental security income checks, SSI, which is the Social Security program for individuals who are disabled, either physically, mentally, or emotionally.
It guarantees a monthly check from the federal government for the rest of your life.
"I want to work and earn a living, not receive a government check." Our staff took him to the local Social Security office.
The government workers there were flummoxed because no one had ever asked this before.
We don't even know how to do that." It took months, and they had to get their instructions from the main Social Security office in Washington, DC, but it eventually happened.
I usually make dinner in our drop-in center once a month, which is where I get to meet and know some of the youth, which is how I got to know him.
Brad left Spectrum about two years later with a Section eight voucher in hand, which allowed him to get his own apartment at a subsidized rent.
He had a job and moved into his own place less than a mile from Spectrum, and I stayed in touch with him, getting together for lunch every few months.
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