Sara Weihmann Utilizes
an Apparel Brand to Elevate
the Voices of Portland’s
Homeless Youth

“Everyone has value,” says Sara Weihmann. It’s this steadfast belief, alongside her passion for sharing business skills, that drew Weihmann to her position as Director of Social Enterprise New Avenues for Youth, a Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending one of America’s most pressing social issues: youth homelessness.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that over the course of a single year, 550,000 unaccompanied young people under the age of 24 lack a home—and more than half of them are under the age of 18.¹ The problem is particularly acute in Portland: last year Oregon had a higher rate of children and youth experiencing homelessness than any other state.²

New Avenues for Youth provides young people with meals, counseling, education, mentoring, housing support, and job training—tools they can use to leave homelessness behind.

A misconception many people have, says Weihmann, is the assumption that young people choose to be homeless. In reality, the reasons behind youth living on the streets are varied and complex. Some have experienced extreme poverty, struggled through the foster care system, or were disowned by their families for being LGBTQA+.

“It is important to challenge our perceptions and understand that folks who are experiencing homelessness are experiencing it for a reason,” Weihmann says. “They didn’t necessarily have access to resources, stable environments, positive affirmations or mentors that created a solid foundation to set and attain their own personal goals.”

New Avenues is a safe space where young people can feel secure enough to move beyond the trauma they’ve endured and continue their process of healing.

The nonprofit not only helps young people find homes. New Avenues supports its young participants through a diverse set of programs that includes mentored work experiences, GED prep courses and alternative education opportunities, and mental health supports—giving them the chance to develop the skills they need to approach a healthy career. Part of what we do,” Weihmann says, “is prepare youth for entering the world of traditional work. Things like job exploration and career search to find a good fit, and demonstrating basic core competencies that can keep you employed.”

One of the nonprofit’s more creative initiatives, dfrntpigeon (pronounced “different pigeon”) is a clothing company of a different feather, with apparel and other products designed by youth who have been underserved by society or experienced housing instability. The brand serves as a training ground for young adults to learn on the job. It was young staff members who thought up the decidedly different name.

Pigeons, Weihmann explains, are birds “that people very easily look at as a nuisance or overlook because they’re considered dirty or not contributing to the beauty of the city.” The brand’s young artists “really gravitated towards that bird as a symbol challenging society to look beyond stigma to reveal the beauty and value beneath the surface,” she says.

Weihmann is most inspired by the courage and resilience of the young people she interacts with every day. Her mission, she says, is to “create a space where they feel safe and they feel valued and they feel heard, when they maybe haven’t experienced that before from adults—or from anyone.” The chance to create that space, she says, “makes me feel really grateful and proud to do this work.”

U.S. Bank is proud to support organizations like New Avenues for Youth that contribute to the growth of safe and vibrant communities.