How stable housing can support healing, leadership, and different futures.
As PERIS Hill approaches its fifth anniversary, we've been reflecting not only on the evolution of the model, but on the young people whose experiences have shaped it.
Over the past few weeks, we've shared more about our experience with creating a new approach to supportive housing for youth aging out of foster care. But equally important are the stories behind that work. They remind us that while policies, partnerships, and housing models matter, their true value is measured in the opportunities they create for young people to build stability, reclaim possibility, and shape their own futures.
Ty is one of those young people. With his permission, we're honored to share his story.
Ty’s Story
Ty was eleven when his mother dropped him off at a hospital and never came back. The hospital called child protection, and by twelve he was in foster care. For years he bounced between his grandmother and his uncle—two people who cared but were each fighting their own battles. Ty learned early how to survive, but not how to feel safe. He fought at school, stole his uncle’s car, snuck out, and said little about what was happening inside him. Still, he kept his grades up and graduated high school on time.
By seventeen, Ty had a son. By nineteen, he had lost nearly everything. The relationship with his girlfriend had turned volatile, echoing what he’d seen growing up. He spent a month in jail. Sitting in that cell, he looked around at men twice his age with the same anger and fear he carried—and decided he didn’t want to live that way. When his release came, he refused to leave without getting help. “I told them I needed mental health therapy,” he said. “Everything’s going to keep repeating if I don’t get the help I need.”
That choice changed everything. Ty entered a three-month residential program for young adults. There, he learned his diagnosis, kept a daily schedule, and began talking—really talking—for the first time. He discovered he could lead groups, share his story, and see it help others. When he graduated, he felt ready. But the next step—housing—was still uncertain.
Finding PERIS Hill
It started by chance. His girlfriend had toured an apartment there, not realizing the building also welcomed young people in extended foster care. Ty came for an interview, and for the first time, someone looked past the file—past his history—and saw a person who was trying. “They knew all of that,” he said, “and still supported me.”
He moved in that June. Within weeks, the rhythm of stability began to take hold. He didn’t have to choose between groceries and gas; the community pantry and quarterly stipend filled the gaps. He went to therapy every week. He enrolled in college full-time. He joined the YMCA Youth Leadership Council and traveled to Duluth for a foster youth leadership conference. “Since moving here,” he said, “I’ve accomplished more in four months than I did in a year by myself.”
The change showed up everywhere—in his routine, his relationships, and the way he spoke about the future. “I feel different since I’ve been here—mentally, physically,” he said. “I was really depressed for a long time. Now my baseline mood is higher.”
He talks with his grandmother almost every day. His relationship with his son’s mother has steadied; they’re both working, both building something solid. He hasn’t gotten his son back yet, but he knows how to get there—and he believes he will. “Being here stabilized me,” he said. “Now I can think about what’s next—for me, and as a dad.”
Ty is studying social work. His goal is to become the kind of support he rarely saw—especially for youth of color in foster care. “I want to be someone who helps kids the way I needed help,” he said. “Don’t give up on people who are trying.”
At PERIS Hill, Ty has done more than stabilize. He’s begun to launch. From homelessness to higher education, from silence to leadership, his story shows what’s possible when young people have a safe place to land—and the support to rise.
A More Complete Story
Ty's story reminds us that supportive housing is about far more than preventing homelessness. Stable housing creates the conditions in which education, employment, healing, parenting, and leadership become possible. Those outcomes cannot be guaranteed, nor do they unfold in the same way for every young person. But they become far more attainable when stability comes before crisis.
As PERIS Hill approaches its fifth anniversary, we continue to learn from the experiences of residents like Ty. Alongside the findings from our ongoing case study, these stories help us better understand what prevention-focused supportive housing can achieve and how we can create stronger pathways for young people transitioning from foster care.
In the months ahead, we'll continue sharing both the lessons emerging from the PERIS Hill model and the voices of the young people who have shaped it. Together, they tell a more complete story than either data or personal experience could tell alone.
Written by Dr. Nora F. Murphy - Founder and Director | ALEA Collective & Carla Godwin - Director | PERIS Foundation