Fulfilling Her Dreams

In the heart of downtown Ogden, a house stands on Adams  Avenue. It’s filled with warmth, hope and a purpose: to provide shelter, support, resources and guidance to homeless, unaccompanied and runaway youths in Utah. The Youth Futures Shelter Home opened in February 2015 and is the only one of its kind in Utah. Recent Weber State University graduate Kristen Mitchell is its founder and director.
 
Mitchell led her classmates in assistant professor Barrett Bonella’s macro social work course, and other Weber State-affiliated classes and groups, in readying the shelter. She successfully advocated for a legislative change that allows for the housing of homeless youths. Relying on donations to help fund the shelter, Mitchell also led fundraising efforts. Alongside faculty, staff, volunteers and her fellow students, she raised more than $250,000 in one semester.
 
Mitchell was named a 2015 Newman Civic Fellow, a national honor that recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to solving problems in their communities. Mitchell is the only student from a Utah university to receive the award this year.