Organization shelters homeless youths, offers path for the future

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- As the weather gets colder, a local organization is helping those in need.  

The group Ours Brothers Keepers is making sure homeless teens have a place to stay.     

For five years, the non-profit has been steadfast in bettering the lives of teenagers in the community in many ways, one of which includes giving them a home even if it's temporary.  

Ours Brothers Keepers Group Director Wesley Moore knows this work is imperative, especially around this time of year. 

"It's very important to us to help the youth who is homeless because we once were homeless,” Moore said. “During this time reaching from November to December, January, you start seeing an increase." 

Moore notes that due to the colder weather, they can go from housing 15 youths to 40 youths a day.  

For teens seeking help, like David Sanders, it means the world to them to find support. 

“It's meant pretty much everything,” Sanders said. “(Ours Brothers Keepers) hasn't just been people who have been providing for me, but they've been mentors, teachers, people who taught me a lot about life and helped me develop skills and learn lessons that I can take into the future.” 

For the organization, it's about more than just giving these kids a safe place for a night. While the kids are in their care, they can attend classes and learn career skills that will hopefully give them more opportunities in the future. 

"It's very important for them to know that it's a home,” Moore said. “It's not just like a shelter board, because you bring the love out of them. Something that they never experienced before, it also gives you the ability to be a better person in life and understand that it's people out there to help them.” 

Overall, they want people to know this is a safe place that can provide not only shelter but community. It is something that can help these young men grow into who they can be. 

"I hope that every young man that comes here, whether it be a long-term arrangement or just coming in here to, you know, stave off like the elements outside, I hope that they can use what they learn here to go off and build something," Sanders said. 

The group is also in the process of building more rooms in another space that can house more youths in need.