“Achieving stability and peace is truly an uphill battle for many of the youth we serve at Star House.

Many of the young people we serve were not afforded the opportunity for a gradual and safe transition into adulthood. Often their situations didn’t have room for them to make choices, meaning they didn’t get the chance to experiment, fail safely, and grow from those experiences.

Trauma adds another layer. Trauma is a deeply distressing or disruptive experience that overwhelms a person’s ability to cope, and for many, it makes it incredibly difficult to maintain stability in housing, employment, and relationships. These challenges aren’t about ability or desire, they’re about survival responses learned over time.  

At Star House, we get to welcome youth into a space where they are wanted. From there, it’s about building trust. Many of our youth are distrustful of adults, authority figures, and institutions because they’ve been hurt or betrayed. So we work intentionally and consistently to connect, show up, and earn trust over time.

Part of why I love this job is because the world can be a hot mess. For me, staying grounded means being in the middle of it, fighting against the chaos instead of looking away. I can’t imagine watching people being hurt or exploited and not being able to at least try to do something to help.

There’s something incredibly meaningful about watching a young person come in after being kicked out, losing housing, or facing a crisis and then slowly start to shed some of that weight. They connect with staff, their posture changes, they begin the work of healing, they make eye contact, they smile more, laugh more, and they begin to believe they can do this after all. Witnessing that transformation is one of my favorite parts of the work.”

Jill Gorz is the Senior Manager of Social Services and Operations at Star House – Central Ohio’s only drop-in center for youth ages 14-24 who are experiencing homelessness.