50 years in, Briarpatch Youth Services strengthens support for marginalized youth

Briarpatch Youth Services, Inc. is a non-profit organization that has been serving youth in Dane County for the past 50 years. The agency focuses on creating a safe space for runaway, homeless, and at-risk youth through its services and programs while working closely with local governments and other non-profit organizations.

“What we do at Briarpatch is preventative. We are catching and engaging our youth at a point in time where they could go either way in life,” explains Gloria Reyes, executive director & CEO of Briarpatch. “When we look at public safety, education, employment, and housing, we are stopping them and intervening so that they don’t become, in the future, homeless themselves as an adult, they don’t commit crime as adults. They’re able to be prepared for jobs and employment in their future.”...