Since 2007, David’s Harp Foundation has been helping youth currently in or transitioning out of the juvenile justice system. With a large no-strings donation, the organization has expanded the support it offers.
David’s Harp Founder and Executive Director Brandon Steppe says, “Building relationships through art, earning relationships and then walking kids back into the community with a trusted adult, a mentor to help them walk them through the process of probation and really, that's the heart of what this is.”
Steppe says the foundation links arms with vulnerable youth and “walks with them through the mud.”
“The challenges of young people as they come back into community from juvenile detention are a lot. Everything from housing to, you know, workforce and job things, but also really connection and relationship,” Steppe said.
The billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave David’s Harp a $1 million donation in 2021. At first, Steppe didn’t know what to do with the money. Until one day, Steppe had an idea as he was driving to work, thinking about the young people building businesses through the organization’s BizPod program.
“At the time, a little over 60% of those kids were experiencing homelessness. So you had kids that were coming, showing up, bringing their full self, investing in the skills that they needed to run businesses, but having to figure out where to sleep at night.”
Steppe said kids were sleeping in cars and couch surfing.
He decided they needed to be able to build an infrastructure of where these kids can really launch out from a house into their own housing.
“We needed our own house, so that's what we did,” he said. “We purchased a home.”
The property they purchased is now called the Transition House. It is a six-bedroom, four-bath home where young people ages 18 to 24 can live for up to a year.
“They're able to pay $500 a month in rent. That $500 is saved for them in escrow and after 12 months, they get all of it back as first, last (month's rent) and move in on their own space,” Steppe said.
Currently four youths live at the house and there are plans for expanding it into a village.
Adrian Cantero is the house manager. He and his wife have lived there for the last eight months and he says it represents something bigger.
“A true loving ecosystem … ”Cantero says. There's a lot of plants around here, and I think if you look at a plant that might be dehydrated or doesn't have enough food, you put it in an ecosystem that's thriving and is really able to transform it.”
He says Transformation House creates a safe community for young people leaving the juvenile justice system, and helps them prepare for the future.
“What I've been able to see is through a lot of students, they're able to come in and not really understand what they need, but are able to be transformed by community and love and stability in this place while also setting them up for the future,” Cantero said.
Cantero helps residents learn how to live independently, including everyday tasks like cooking their own food, doing laundry and completing house chores regularly.
While the million-dollar donation went to purchasing and renovating Transformation House, the foundation has also grown.
Before, the foundation served 220 young people each year. Now, they’re serving more than 500.
They’ve also doubled their staff, including graduates of the program like Riley Reinas.
“I have no idea where I would be without David's Harp, ” Reinas said.
Reinas now serves as a full-time artist mentor for David’s Harp.
“I really just want to help kids who are kind of going through the struggle and just know that, like, it's better on this side of the fence, and that you could kind of change and be who you want to be and just be positive with it you know,” Reinas said.
To date, Steppe says the Foundation has helped thousands of young people, and that million dollars has increased their impact.
“What we chose to do was to go all-in with young people and invest it directly in their future,” Steppe said.
Steppe hopes one day soon, the courts will consider Transformation House and the foundation’s workforce program an official alternative for young people who are facing incarceration.
