Razing the Bar leases homes across Santa Clara County for adults 18 to 24 experiencing homelessness, then builds the support inside each one: mentoring, life skills, and a path to a lease of their own.
“Razing the Bar believes that relationships are the key to successful youth development. Through mentorship and housing support, we help transition-aged youth achieve permanent connections and self-sufficiency.”
For us. By us. With us.
Our vision
Self-sufficiency. Sufficiently Self™.
Self-sufficiency is measured by what someone no longer gets. Sufficiently Self™ is measured by what is present: a foundation under them, skills built while they can still be built, and people still beside them when the next hard thing comes.
Not perfect. Not alone. Enough.
Our values
Seven conditions. Not slogans.
01
Everyone here is specific.
No one is summed up by a label, and no right depends on conduct.
02
We stay.
Endings are not scheduled by funding. The relationship continues after a young person moves on.
03
Repair is faster than rupture.
When something breaks between us, we repair it in the open, and we go first.
04
Meaning does not live in one person.
Decisions rest on evidence and a shared mission, not on any one person’s word.
05
We say what is contested.
We publish what we have not yet proven, and the results that miss.
06
Conditions before exhortation.
We change what is possible, required, or easy, instead of asking people to try harder.
07
What we ask of others, we do first.
Every standard applies upward before it applies downward.
Dontae Lartigue entered foster care at age five. In 2017, he and his former mentor, Ty Thompson, founded Razing the Bar to rebuild how systems serve young people.
A home first.
People who stay.
Razing the Bar leases homes across Santa Clara County for adults 18 to 24 experiencing homelessness, then builds the support inside each one: mentoring, life skills, and a path to a lease of their own.
Be the one
who stays.
A home, built one day at a time. One day when the whole world gives. Make yours count here at home.
“Razing the Bar believes that relationships are the key to successful youth development. Through mentorship and housing support, we help transition-aged youth achieve permanent connections and self-sufficiency.”
For us. By us. With us.
Self-sufficiency.Sufficiently Self™.
Self-sufficiency is measured by what someone no longer gets. Sufficiently Self™ is measured by what is present: a foundation under them, skills built while they can still be built, and people still beside them when the next hard thing comes.
Not perfect. Not alone. Enough.
Seven conditions.
Not slogans.
Everyone here is specific.
No one is summed up by a label, and no right depends on conduct.
We stay.
Endings are not scheduled by funding. The relationship continues after a young person moves on.
Repair is faster than rupture.
When something breaks between us, we repair it in the open, and we go first.
Meaning does not live in one person.
Decisions rest on evidence and a shared mission, not on any one person’s word.
We say what is contested.
We publish what we have not yet proven, and the results that miss.
Conditions before exhortation.
We change what is possible, required, or easy, instead of asking people to try harder.
What we ask of others, we do first.
Every standard applies upward before it applies downward.
Three ways home.
Every home is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and reached through Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System.
A home now. A lease of your own next.
A private room in a home Razing the Bar leases, while you build toward permanent housing.
Transitional housing → Rapid re-housingYour own lease. Help with the rent.
A lease in your name, with rental assistance that steps down as your income grows.
Rapid re-housing → Permanent supportive housingA home that lasts. Support that stays.
For adults living with a disability after long-term homelessness, with no set end date.
Permanent supportive housing →Eight kinds of support.
One mentor.
Mentoring and case management
A Community Mentor every week, toward goals you set.
Life skills
Cooking, budgeting, and running a home.
Housing search
Finding a home, and keeping it.
Education
School, financial aid, and credentials.
Employment
First jobs, training, and careers.
Food
Groceries and shared meals.
Transportation
Getting to work, school, and appointments.
Outreach
Reaching young adults where they are.
Check our work.
Why this work.
Youth homelessness in Santa Clara County, from County and federal sources.
The problem → GovernanceSeven people. One duty.
The volunteer Board that sets direction and approves the budget.
Our governance → FinancialsEvery dollar, in the open.
Five years of IRS filings, the firms that keep the books, and who oversees them.
Financials →Built by someone
who lived it.
Dontae Lartigue entered foster care at age five. In 2017, he and his former mentor, Ty Thompson, founded Razing the Bar to rebuild how systems serve young people.
Find your part.
Every way to give.
Online, monthly, stock, donor-advised funds, IRA gifts, and your employer’s match.
Ways to give → CollaborateOrganizations.
Landlords, employers, foundations, companies, agencies, and schools.
Collaborate with us → Join usGive your time.
Share a skill, bring your team, start a fundraiser, or make an introduction.
Join us →Start here.
Today.
Stand
with us.