A home gives a young adult a place to stand. Relationships give them a reason, and a way, to keep going. At Razing the Bar, the relationship is not a service. It is the point.
Most young adults have someone to call when life goes wrong. Many young people leaving foster care or experiencing homelessness do not.
They reach adulthood without the lasting, caring adults most people take for granted: someone to call in a crisis, help with a first lease, a place for the holidays.
Razing the Bar is built on a simple belief: relationships between mentors and young adults are what change a life. They build the confidence, skills, and wider network that housing alone cannot.
Permanent, not a program
A program ends. This doesn’t.
What young people too often find
What Razing the Bar builds
Support that stops at a deadline
Relationships that continue after someone moves on
A case file, managed from a distance
A mentor who shows up every week
Decisions made for them
Goals they set, on their own timeline
Strangers who have read about the road
People who have walked it
Like the lifelong ties of a family or a fraternity, membership in the Razing the Bar community doesn’t expire. Moving on is not the same as being let go.
The practice
Four moves. Repeated.
A relationship is not a feeling we promise. It is something we do, again and again, that anyone can see.
01
Show up.
Every visit kept. Every promise made small enough to keep.
02
Stay.
Endings are not scheduled by funding. The relationship continues after someone moves on.
03
Repair.
When something breaks between us, we repair it in the open, and we go first.
04
Widen the circle.
Every person leaves with people around them who are not paid to be there.
By us
Built by people who’ve been there.
Razing the Bar was founded by someone who grew up in foster care, and our direct-service team includes people with lived experience of homelessness, foster care, or the justice system.
Young adults are more open to support from people who know the road. And every mentor is proof the road leads somewhere.
We focus on building
permanent relationships.
A home gives a young adult a place to stand. Relationships give them a reason, and a way, to keep going. At Razing the Bar, the relationship is not a service. It is the point.
Most young adults have someone to call when life goes wrong. Many young people leaving foster care or experiencing homelessness do not.
They reach adulthood without the lasting, caring adults most people take for granted: someone to call in a crisis, help with a first lease, a place for the holidays.
Razing the Bar is built on a simple belief: relationships between mentors and young adults are what change a life. They build the confidence, skills, and wider network that housing alone cannot.
A program ends.
This doesn’t.
Like the lifelong ties of a family or a fraternity, membership in the Razing the Bar community doesn’t expire. Moving on is not the same as being let go.
Four moves.
Repeated.
A relationship is not a feeling we promise. It is something we do, again and again, that anyone can see.
Show up.
Every visit kept. Every promise made small enough to keep.
Stay.
Endings are not scheduled by funding. The relationship continues after someone moves on.
Repair.
When something breaks between us, we repair it in the open, and we go first.
Widen the circle.
Every person leaves with people around them who are not paid to be there.
Built by people
who’ve been there.
Razing the Bar was founded by someone who grew up in foster care, and our direct-service team includes people with lived experience of homelessness, foster care, or the justice system.
Young adults are more open to support from people who know the road. And every mentor is proof the road leads somewhere.
One person.
A whole circle.
No one should depend on a single relationship, including one with us. The goal is a circle that holds, with or without Razing the Bar.
Close ties
People they choose: family, chosen family, and close friends. The young adult decides who belongs.
Everyday ties
People they see: classmates, coworkers, neighbors, and coaches.
Bridges
People they meet at community gatherings: mentors, neighbors, and collaborators of every age and background.
Doors
Institutions that open: employers, landlords, schools, and agencies.
Relationships
are the key.
Give your time, or keep a mentor beside someone with a gift.