The HAY Center's Green on groundbreaking of new facility: 'No foster youth should face homelessness simply because they turn 18'

A Harris County program that assists foster youth as they ease into adulthood broke ground on a new facility on Friday, Houston-based media outlets reported. 

The Houston Alumni and Youth (HAY) Center will soon witness the construction of its Downtown Houston campus, which comes with a price tag of $39 million.

“No foster youth should face homelessness simply because they turn 18,” Mary Green, the director of The HAY Center, said in a report from Houston CW affiliate KIAH.

KIAH reported that the campus will have the distinction as the first and only of its kind in the state to provide assistance to young adults between the ages of 18-24 who’ve aged out of the system.

According to the station, it’ll consist of affordable apartment units, on-site supportive care and outdoor space.

Though The HAY Center has been in existence since 2005, it doesn’t provide housing to foster youth entering adulthood, which the facility hopes to change. Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported. 

One person who benefited from The HAY Center’s support is Roman Contreras Xu, who became a disc jockey (DJ) and provided the soundtrack to the groundbreaking, KTRK reported.

Xu told KTRK that the program still helped him even when he turned 18 and was suddenly homeless.

"I knew I couldn't go to school. I couldn't find a place to live," he recounted to the station. "At one point, I was so ready to give up.

“[The HAY Center] already [has] been through so much, neglected, abused and for them just to get kicked out,” he continued. “The HAY Center won't do that."

KTRK reported that the facility is slated for completion next year, and once the last of the construction workers on the project leaves, it’ll have what county officials say are 50 affordable housing units for older foster youth and wraparound support services for 1,300 young people.