Youth Homelessness
June 4th, 2026
01:00 PM – 2:30 PM
- No CEUs
- Cost: $20 Non-Members/$10 Members
This webinar for anyone working with or interested in addressing and preventing the increase in youth homelessness. This webinar features speakers who have experienced youth homelessness who will provide both a first person perspective coupled with the macro data driven best practices for a unique insight into the needs and barriers to persons 18-24 who are facing homelessness. This webinar will have the following learning objectives:
- Attendees will understand the prevalence of youth homelessness in Michigan and across the State
- Attendees will understand the causes and unique barriers for youth in homelessness with a focus on Queer youth, youth aging out of foster care, abuse and neglect, documentation challenges,lack of work history, credit rating, support system, ongoing trauma from foster/family of origin and how adult biases can exacerbate all of these issues
- Attendees will understand best practices for supporting youth – including trauma-informed care, putting together a holistic case plan including developing credit, work skills, trauma counseling, connecting youth to maternal and infant health resources, and child care
Facilitators
Azaria Terrel, Sarah Kinnunen, and Latavia Hereford
Latavia Hereford is a youth advocate and Content & Communications Manager for the Regional Youth Action Board under Out Wayne CoC. With lived experience in housing instability, she works to make sure youth voices are heard in decisions that impact their lives. As a proud member of the sickle cell warrior community, she brings strength and lived insight to her advocacy.
Sarah Kinnunen is an immigrant youth with lived experience of homelessness. I serve as the Executive Director for the Out-Wayne Youth Action Board and am a member of the Regional YAB and Out-Wayne Continuum of Care. I’m coding and launching a hub, MichiganConnect.org, that serves as a central point for education and resource-sharing regarding acute, ongoing, and preventable crises. Everyone should have access to housing, employment, safety, and wellness. I look forward to our collaborative efforts to end youth homelessness.
Zay Terrell is a youth advocate based in Detroit, Michigan. She serves as a Youth Consultant with the Detroit Continuum of Care(CoC) contributing to several workgroups across the Continuum focused on improving coordination and outcomes within the homelessness response system. Zay is a member of the Detroit CoC Youth Action Council where she works to ensure that youth voices are meaningfully elevated in conversations about housing and systems transformation. Zay previously served for two years as President of the Youth Action Board at The Detroit Phoenix Center where she led initiatives to strengthen youth leadership and center lived experience within decision-making spaces. Guided by her own lived experience, Zay is passionate about advocating for policies and solutions that improve outcomes for young people experiencing homelessness. Her work is driven by a commitment to uplift youth voice and ensure that young people closest to these challenges are part of shaping the solutions that impact their lives and that of future generations.
Azaria Terrell
She/Her/Her’s
Youth Member
Regional YAB | YAC | DAG | CoP | CYH | PWLEH Council
Kristin Kunes
She/Her
Continuum of Care (CoC) Supervisor
Latavia Hereford | She/Her
Marketing & Communications Manager
Out Wayne CoC Regional Youth Action Board