This week, Sunday, November 16th – Saturday, November 22nd, is Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Since 1997, The Coffee Oasis has sought to address the issues of hunger and homelessness head on by providing a continuum of services for young people aged 13-25. These services include the only two low-barrier youth shelters in Kitsap and Pierce counties, drop-in centers, crisis navigation, case management, job training classes and internships, outreach, and resources such as laundry services, showers, meals, hygiene products, and clothing. 

We were able to sit down with one of our youth programs staff, Rachel De Jesus, to learn more about housing instability and housing services The Coffee Oasis provides. Based on data from Kitsap Public Health, during the 2024-2025 school year, 913 public school students in Kitsap County experienced homelessness. This is a significant number of students in our community impacted by homelessness.

Rachel, could you share about your role at The Coffee Oasis?

I have dual roles. I work for youth engagement and youth development. In youth engagement I work in outreach in Bremerton and sometimes Silverdale. For youth development, I’m a housing case manager for our Bremerton Shelter and Evergreen Bright Start (EBS) clients.

You have the opportunity to work with a large variety of youth. Can you tell me what’s the demographic that The Coffee Oasis is serving and what housing services we provide?

Our age demographic is 13-25. For housing in our youth shelters specifically in Bremerton it’s 16-20 and Tacoma 13-17. Through Evergreen Bright Start (EBS) it’s 18-23. The earliest resident moved into EBS at the beginning of the year last year. This is a program that’s hosted by a number of different entities in Bremerton–Bremerton Housing Authority, Kitsap Mental Health, Kitsap Community Resources, Olive Crest, The Coffee Oasis, and Scarlet Road all have their roles in this program. It’s an equal housing opportunity for people between the ages of 18-23 to have access to a fully furnished apartment. The requirement is low-income, so residents have to make under $28,110 a year. If their wages are over that amount, they have to pay 30% of their wages. After one year, they’re given a my choice voucher for housing anywhere in the country.

What are some challenges you’re seeing youth face in accessing housing?

There are no housing options. There are some new apartment buildings going up, but the clients we serve are priced out of those options. The reality is the adults who come to our cafes are often priced out of those options.

The youth who are newly 18 or 19 years old and have no work experience are priced out. I was explaining to someone yesterday that I have clients who are doing Running Start, went to Westsound Tech, and are joining the base. With an Associates Degree and a year and a half of experience, they cannot afford living on their own in an apartment. The reality is if you’re making $20/hr you cannot survive as a single person. We have adult people who are renting out rooms in their house, charging upwards of $1,000 to supplement their own income.

If you’re 18-21 making under $25/hr as a single person who’s not receiving any other benefits, the reality is there is no housing that’s affordable to you unless you’re renting someone’s garage or a room or living with a family member or shacking up with a bunch of friends.

As someone who’s worked directly with youth in case management, housing programs, and outreach, what do you think would surprise our community members about the challenges youth are facing right now?

There’s a wake up call that has to happen.

The community needs to recognize that if you’re a 40-year-old person who has worked for 20+ years and are established in your life and your career, if missing one paycheck would do you in or offset the balance you’ve carefully put together, imagine starting at 18-20 with absolutely nothing, having nowhere to go, not having 20 years of background or support or knowledge. Imagine a paycheck that’s a quarter of the size and getting your hours cut. I wish the community could see teens and young adults as people who are trying to live, survive, and figure things out while also not completely giving themselves over to two full-time jobs and no time to do anything else.

How to take action:

We’d also like to thank our community for their generosity at our annual fundraisers—the Hope Gala and Coffee & Corks—collectively, over half of the funding was raised for The Coffee Oasis youth shelters to operate in 2026. This holiday season, The Coffee Oasis has set an ambitious goal to raise $416,000 to provide shelter operations for the remainder of 2026.

In the podcast episode, you will actually hear the number $216,000 shared. However, with recent federal funding reductions and delays, this amount needed to fully fund the youth shelters for 2026 is significantly higher than anticipated. If you would like to take action to provide safe and stable housing for youth, would you consider giving a year-end gift to The Coffee Oasis to provide shelter for youth for all of 2026? You can give today at mightycause.com/thecoffeeoasis

This week, for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, we encourage you to follow along with this podcast series and share with your community what you’re learning. Don’t forget to tag @thecoffeeoasis on social media!

You can also support youth experiencing homelessness by purchasing coffee including our seasonal specials and limited edition mugs for the holiday season!

Story Written by: Caryn Wright //  Date Written: November 11, 2025
Special thanks to Cody Clark for hosting and to Rachel De Jesus for the interview