Where can a child go for help when they have no one in their life to rely on? Casa Youth Shelter is a fantastic resource in Los Alamitos, providing shelter and support services for youth in crisis. As the new CEO, Jessica Hubbard hopes to expand their reach all across Southern California.
Hubbard told KNX Heroes host Heather Jordan that her childhood experience of poverty and abuse set her down a path of helping others, especially young people.
Hubbard credits mental health services and higher education for changing the circumstances of her difficult start in life. She said, "To this day, I'm an enormous advocate for both," they "are a large part of what we do at Costa Youth Shelter."
Hubbard started as a teacher at a Title I middle school in Florida, where, after seeing many students end up in the criminal justice system, decided she needed to do more.
She moved to California to attend law school but felt the legal field was missing a direct connection to the children she hoped to help, so she found her way to non-profit work.
As the CEO of Casa Youth Shelter, Hubbard uses her experience and compassion to head a team providing resources, love, safety, and stability to kids ages 12 to 17 in need.
According to Hubbard, Casa Youth Shelter is unique in that there are so few resources like theirs available in the area. She said, "In all of Orange County, there are only 18 licensed beds for youth in crisis, and we are 12 of those beds."
Casa Shelter provides services to about 200-300 kids annually in-person and an additional 1,500 through its youth crisis hotline, but Hubbard wants to do so much more.
"We are looking at growth...There's so many areas and pockets of need across Los Angeles County and Orange County. So I want to bring our services there. We also know we can bring the kids to us, but it's even better when we can start bringing it to them," she said.
Jessica Hubbard is on a mission to help as many kids in crisis as possible, and her dedication to that mission makes her our KNX Hero of the Week!
Check out all our KNX Heroes here.
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