A Creative Solution for Homeless Youth Employment in Portland
Outside the Frame (OTF) began in 2009 stemming from Outside In, a health care and social services company for youth and other marginalized people experiencing homelessness. It has since transformed into a Portland-based non-profit film and media training program that offers education and hands-on training for homeless and marginalized youth.
Outside the Frame markets itself as a program for women and non-binary identifying individuals, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, people living with disability, and those who have experienced poverty or housing insecurity. The program focuses on communities typically excluded from the film industry on professional film sets and is in collaboration with the Oregon Media Pathways Program. The Oregon Media Pathways Program is a program administered by Oregon Film and Outside the Frame to create a pathway for entry and sustained success in the Oregon Media Industry. Underrepresented media creators like homeless youth can obtain paid entry-level positions on local productions through this collaboration. They also offer film intensives, peer mentorship, weekly workshops, community outreach screenings, and workforce development for film production.
In an interview with KPTV FOX 12, Nili Yosha, Executive Director of Outside the Frame, explained that their program allows students to conceptualize, shoot, and edit their own films on whatever subject matter is most meaningful to them. Yosha notes that filmmaking allows them to take ownership of their story, reflect on it, make sense of it, and share it with others. Yosha also says that the program gives these individuals the opportunity to take control and make decisions, which is something they may not have been able to do in past life experiences.
In the same interview with KPTV, OTF’s Mentorship Coordinator and former program participant, Joey Wander recalls how the program reshaped his life. When Wander joined the program he wasn’t sure of where his life would take him and wondered if he was even employable. Wander said that the program reminded him of his worth and value. He also said that the program resurged his creativity at a time when his everyday life focused on the basics of simply surviving. Wander closes his interview saying that it is vital for programs like OTF to exist to humanize homeless individuals and share their stories with the public because society often ignores them.
According to the Outside the Frame website, “BIPOC, LGBTQ+ youth, and people with disabilities are over-represented in the homeless youth community proportional to their representation in the general population”. They note that most of the program participants have experienced some form of homelessness or housing insecurity and are between the ages of 16-26 years old. A report published by the National Library of Medicine found that high rates of unemployment were associated with homeless youth. The study showed that although homeless serving agencies offer employment assistance, most homeless youth were disengaged from the service agencies as a whole. OTF collaborates with Multnomah County’s Homeless Youth Continuum to help youth develop workforce skills. The continuum assists individuals by street outreach, emergency and short-term shelter, transitional and independent housing, and case management. OTF partners with the Homeless Youth Continuum to help participants share their stories through film and gain the skills necessary to find employment in media after the program concludes. OTF provides the opportunity for organizations and companies to hire their professional media team to produce content. Hiring this team ensures that organizations are directly providing work for youth experiencing homelessness.
Interested in getting involved with Outside the Frame:
https://www.outsidetheframe.org/learnwithus
References:
https://www.oregonmade.org/workforce-development.html
https://www.outsidetheframe.org/whatwedo
https://multco.us/file/homeless_youth_services_continuum/download
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtOvPlbWOig
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