An Inside Look at Eddy House Life Skills Programming

What is Programming? Why do we do it?

Here at Eddy House, we offer Programming for all youth ages 18-24. Programming consists of a variety of life skill presentations and activities, essential services, and community outings. We understand that it takes more than providing housing to fulfill our mission to end youth homelessness. With that in mind, we collaborated with Dr. Coll from the University of Nevada, Reno, to research what the young adults in our community would benefit from and need most during this transitional period of their lives.

Life Skills Programming

This is presented in a group format where clients can learn and practice the many skills needed to be sustainably independent. We have four main domains that we categorize these groups into. These domains are Career/Finance, Housing/Transportation, Community, and Self-Care. Many committed Community Partners, staff, and volunteers all contribute to facilitating quality life skill groups. To give you a better idea, here’s a few example topics for each domain:

Career/Finance:

Resumes
Career and Employment Opportunities (Highlighting Workforce Partner Opportunities)
Career Development (Job Trainings and Certifications)
Education (Higher Education, Schooling, GEDs, etc.)
Banking
Credit
Money Management/Budgeting

Housing/Transportation:

Public Transportation Resources
Permit and Driver’s License Practice/Testing
Housing Rights
Housing Options and Searching
Application Process and Preparedness
Moving Out Process and Independance
General Home Life Skills (Cooking, Cleaning, Shared Space Living, etc.)

Community:

Healthy and Stable Relationships
Supportive Adults
Communal Living
Community Resources and Services
Local Organizations
Volunteering
Peer Support

Self-Care:

Health and Nutrition
Personal Hygiene
Healthy Recreation
Grounding Techniques and Activities
Self-Expression and Creative Outlets
Sex Education
Coping Skills

Depending on the above topic, each group looks a little bit different. Since our clients come from diverse backgrounds and different levels of education, it’s important to ensure that these life skill groups are tailored to meet our population where they’re at. Whether they are educational or informal, our facilitators know that activities related to the group’s topic are a great way to cultivate participation and boost hands-on practice.

Each week, we post a Group Schedule for all incoming clients to see. It displays all the programming opportunities available to them that week. On average, there are about two to three life skill groups a day, Monday through Thursday.

Another aspect of Programming is bringing in essential services. These essential services are provided by Community Partners and Volunteers. For example, every Friday clients can meet with our Department of Health and Human Services partner to get SNAP/Medicaid Assistance. Some of the recurring services that are offered include: haircuts, STI testing and birth control assistance, dental hygiene , government phone assistance, and insurance Tabling (from Anthem, Community Health Alliance, and United HealthCare).

The last part of our Programming includes Client Outings. Outings are when we take a group of clients offsite to participate in something fun. In the past we’ve had the opportunity to attend Reno Aces Games, take private boxing lessons, go to Tahoe for outdoor activities, indoor rock climbing, bowling, and the list goes on! Our population does not often get the chance to enjoy activities like this, so we are very grateful to help provide these experiences.

We’ve learned and grown our Programming offerings over the years. In 2023 alone, we offered 653 Life Skill Groups, 114 Service Provider Visits, and 23 Client Outings. This is just a glimpse of one part of the organization. Thank you for reading, caring, and being a supporter of the work that we do here.

Written By Precious Kay-Sumption, Eddy House Program Manager

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