Elevate Youth Services Receives Transformational $500,000 Endowment Gift to Strengthen Vermont's Response to Youth Homelessness

Right now, in every county in Vermont, young people are sleeping in cars, on couches, in the woods, wherever they can find a place to land. In response, Elevate Youth Services has received a transformational $500,000 endowment gift from the Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family Foundation, one of the largest endowment gifts ever made in support of youth homelessness services in Vermont. 

The gift establishes a permanent endowment, one that will generate annual income to sustain the services young people rely on: emergency shelter, housing case management, street outreach, drop-in spaces, counseling, substance use support, and access to food, clothing, transportation, and hygiene supplies.

Most funding in this field has to be won back every year. An endowment is different. It is a permanent source of support that will keep showing up for young people long after this moment has passed.

"Every young person deserves a safe place to sleep, someone who believes in them, and a community that refuses to give up on them," said Favor Ellis, Executive Director of Elevate Youth Services. "This gift recognizes what we see every day: youth homelessness cannot be solved with temporary funding. The Buffum Family Foundation has created a lasting legacy, one that will help young people in Vermont find safety, stability, and belonging for years to come."

Elevate Youth Services provides a full continuum of care for youth ages 12 to 24 across Central Vermont, including emergency shelter, housing navigation, intensive case management, prevention programming, mental health counseling, substance use support, street outreach, and drop-in spaces where young people can meet basic needs and build relationships with adults who stay.

Over the past several years, Elevate has expanded its response to youth homelessness significantly, growing emergency and transitional housing capacity to meet rising needs of young people in our community. Even so, most of this work is funded through competitive grants and short-term cycles, which leaves organizations like ours planning one year at a time.

This endowment begins to break that pattern. It is a permanent investment in Vermont's youth homelessness response, one that helps guarantee these services will still be here regardless of what happens to any single year's funding.

"Homelessness is not simply about housing," Ellis said. "It is about belonging. Young people need adults who stay, services they can count on, and communities willing to invest in their future. This endowment is an investment in hope, in stability, and in the belief that every young person deserves the chance to build a future they choose."

Founded more than 50 years ago, Elevate Youth Services serves hundreds of young Vermonters each year through housing, prevention, youth development, mental health, restorative justice, and community-based support, all rooted in the belief that connection is the intervention and belonging is the prevention.