Frequently Asked Questions

The Relatives previous On Ramp facility housed, both, the resource center and our administrative offices. The 6,600 sq. ft. building could only serve approximately 500 young adults a year, ages 16-24. According to the Leading On Opportunity Taskforce (link), there are 45,500 disconnected youth in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community.

By moving to the larger facility, located on Freedom Drive The Relatives can now serve three times the number of young adults we’re previously reaching. The new facility also allows us to expand the number and variety of workshops we’re able to offer, a designated GED classroom, a teaching kitchen, as well as laundry and shower facilities.

Previously, The Relatives has leased space to house the On Ramp Resource Center. First in the Children and Family Services Building, then in an office building located on E 8th St in Uptown. Incredible community support allowed The Relatives to purchase the new space on Freedom Dr, providing a permanent home for the resource center and room to grow as we work to meet the ever-evolving needs of youth in crisis.

Located in the heart of Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood, The Relatives’ Youth Crisis Center is our community’s only emergency shelter for youth and adolescents. As it has since its inception, the Crisis Center will remain on East Blvd. and continue providing homeless and runaway youth, ages 7-17, with a safe place to stay.

The Relatives serves the most vulnerable youth in Charlotte- those who are not only homeless and in crisis, but many who have aged out of public systems such as foster care, juvenile justice and mental health. For youth in crisis, The Relatives steps in where no one else can and has a 45-year track record of finding solutions to the myriad of challenges they confront. Young people without supportive families or escaping precarious home situations often find themselves in a downward spiral, trapped by adversity. The Relatives is devoted to helping these young people find stability and independence, the ones on the edge for whom no one else can seem to find an answer.

Including:

• Youth Crisis Center: Mecklenburg County’s only emergency shelter that provides a safe location for youth, ages 7-17, who have run away from home, are homeless or experiencing a family crisis with nowhere else to turn. For up to 21 days, youth are provided with a safe place to stay while they and their families work on the issues that brought them to the Crisis Center. Walk-in services for children and families are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and include basic needs such as food, clothing, showers and transportation as well as crisis counseling and referrals to community resources. The Crisis Center also offers free monthly parenting classes and operates a 24-hour crisis hotline which fields more than 4,000 calls each year.
• On Ramp Resource Center: a drop-in resource center that helps disconnected young adults, ages 16-24, with employment services, independent living skills workshops, GED tutoring and the option to elect to receive more intensive case management support to help them successfully transition to adulthood and independence. It is the only program of its kind in Mecklenburg County and the surrounding area, and the only one to address the needs of young adults holistically.
• Housing program: launched in 2016, our scattered site housing program is the only housing program in Mecklenburg County that specifically focuses on homeless young adults (18-24) and provides them with subsidized housing, coupled with case management to help them find or increase employment, learn to navigate community resources and ultimately achieve independence.