Youth And Shelter Services, Inc. history

1980 “The staff at Alternative House consists of a director, four full-time counselors, a night resident counselor, administrative coordinator, a family counselor, and a volunteer coordinator who supervises 30 volunteers from the local community,” according to an Alternative House brochure.

1982 Youth Services joins the Vermont Coalition of Runaway Youth Programs.

1984 Juvenile Assistance of McLean formally changes its name to “Alternative House,” its most popular program.

1986 With expansion of programs, Youth Services relocates to a larger office at 32 Walnut Street.

1989 Jim Warwick becomes the Executive Director of Alternative House.

1990 Alternative House begins its Street Outreach Program to reach out to young people in crises in Fairfax County, beginning its Community-Based Services program with just three counselors in the Culmore, Springfield, and Route 1 areas offering food, clothing, supplies, counseling, and support.

1992 Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition formed to help prevent substance abuse among teens.

1994 Kaleidoscope, a 90-day residential program for children ages five to 12 who experienced severe abuse, opens its doors.

1997 The first Transitional Living Program for young people experiencing homelessness, 16 to 21 years old, opens.

1998 Alternative House expands its Community-Based programs by opening the Culmore Teen Center to provide recreational and educational services to young people in the 7th through 12th grade.

2000 The first Transitional Living Program closes due to a loss of funding.

2001 Home Aid is established in Northern Virginia by the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association.

2002 Alternative House opens a new transitional living program, Assisting Young Mothers (now Second Story for Young Mothers), and begins providing safe havens, support, and services to pregnant and parenting young women, ages 16-24, experiencing homelessness.

2003 Big Brothers Big Sisters expands to Deerfield and West River Valleys, Bellows Falls.

2004 The Culmore Safe Youth Project opens to provide drop-in after-school services to youth in grades four to six.

2006 The Annandale Safe Youth Project opens to provide drop-in after-school services to youth in grades four to six.

2007 Bellows Falls families with at-risk teens “wrapped” in services through weekly home visits.

2008 Summer employment project piloted for six-weeks in Bellows Falls with agricultural focus.

2009 The Homeless Youth Initiative (now part of Second Story for Homeless Youth) opens in partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools to help homeless high school students who are without the support of a parent or guardian.

2011 Pregnant and parenting teens matched with mentors, Young Mom’s Group forms

2012 The second Transitional Living Program opens in 2012, expanding the Homeless Youth Initiative so that young people ages 18-22 can get the support they need to walk the path to productive adulthood.

2013 Culmore and Springfield Neighborhood Initiatives contracts awarded, expanding the services available to families and communities in Culmore and Springfield.

2014 Springfield Safe Youth Project opens to provide drop-in after-school services to youth in grades four to six.

2015 Restorative Justice expansion adds pre-trial services, supervised visitation and driver’s license suspension programs, serving adults and young adults.

2017 Alternative House changes its name to “Second Story” and begins writing a new narrative to expand upon its mission of serving youth in need.

2018 Clinical services expand to include substance misuse treatment and outreach.

2019 Youth-led screen-printing business, DemoGraphix launched with high interest.