About Us
Creating a LaunchPad for Young People facing Hidden Homelessness
Across the U.S., more than 1.3 million students are identified as homeless.
Let me make it more personal and local.
In the Metro area alone, a total of 3,175 students in our community are homeless. Kansas City takes up majority of that total, with 1,241 students being homeless right here our KC Public Schools.
That means 1 in 4 students in our LOCAL community are dealing with unstable housing.
WHAT ARE THEIR NEXT STEPS AFTER GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL?!?
Right now, 14.3% of young adults, 18-24, live below the poverty line.
By the age 21, 22% of youth aging out of foster care in Kansas City become homeless.
Incredibly, 46% of UMKC college students face housing and food insecurity. 12% of them experienced homelessness in 2024-25.
Meaning, some of these young people are the UNSEEN hustlers on college campuses - showing up, studying, working, dreaming - while carrying the heavy burden of survival mode and uncertainty.
We call them DREAMERS, and WE SEE THEIR STRENGTH!
Most of our government and non-profit services are unavailable for young people 18-30 years old.
Most remain invisible, couch surfing, living in cars, in storage units or just in unstable living situations.
That's where we come in!
Our Approach
At the ✨Embrace Your Shine Campus✨, we are dedicated to making a tangible difference in the lives of the underrepresented young people in Kansas City. As an incorporated 501(c)3 non-profit organization, we focus on a holistic approach to addressing hidden homelessness, recognizing that safe housing is just one piece of the puzzle.
In addition to building supportive cottages, we recognize and believe that the root cause of long-term success is not just technical skills or career preparation - it is mindset.
Many transition-aged youth and young adults in our community face challenges that are beyond their control. Challenges such as housing insecurity, toxic stress, and lack of consistent support can lead to self-doubt, hopelessness, and survival-mode thinking that undermines their ability to fully benefit from educational, workforce programs, or career opportunities.
To address this, EYS is launching Embrace Life, a 20-week personal development bootcamp designed to build the internal tools necessary to thrive. The purpose of this program is to strengthen transition-aged youth’s and young adults mental well-being and help them unlock self-belief, resilience, and shift limiting beliefs so participants can pursue their highest aspirations with confidence.
The Embrace Life program serves as an extension to local existing workforce and training programs already equipping youth with trades, entrepreneurial skills, and career pathways. While schools and community partners teach trades, entrepreneurship, and job readiness, Embrace Life addresses the root cause of success— mindset.
Through guided exercises, group discussions, and practical strategies, participants learn to regulate emotions, practice self-love, and develop a long-term vision for their lives.
We address the missing link: building inner strength to match external opportunity.
Our Impact
The Embrace Life program combined with the Embrace Your Shine ✨ campus gives young people the opportunity to build the resilience and self-belief they need to thrive—not just in school or work, but in life!
We remove the trade-off between survival and success. Participants gain not only economic stability but also the cognitive and emotional benefits of setting and achieving goals—improving mental health, reducing chronic stress, and increasing long-term decision-making capacity.
Our return on investment is both measurable and transformative:
- reduced recidivism
- increased income
- higher retention in education
A generation of young people empowered to rewrite their story and grow stronger than their circumstances.
In short, success is not only measured by program completion, but by youth leaving the program with the internal tools, confidence, and resilience needed to thrive in life, education, and career.
Organizationally, success means creating a sustainable program model that fills the gap between workforce preparation and the mindset needed to thrive.
By providing the opportunity to learn how to think and not what to think.
HOW ARE WE DOING THIS?
Imagine our first six cottages on KC soil - becoming the foundation of Stability, Growth and New Beginnings for our young people pursuing upward mobility after High School.
Each cottage is a roadmap for those who need stability to gain traction:
Survival ➡️ Stability ➡️ Success
Combined with our Embrace Life program, enhances our work by addressing the often over-looked foundation of success. Many of the young people that we serve face toxic stress, housing instability, and systemic barriers that undermine their ability to fully benefit from workforce or educational opportunities.
These external challenges create internal barriers:
- Self doubt
- Survival mode thinking
- Hopelessness
The result is not only improved mental well-being, but also greater engagement in school, training, and career pathways
We aim to Enrich Local Ecosystem Developments with our unique approach..-combining transitional housing with comprehensive support - Will empower these UpComing Leaders to Lead, Innovate & Redefine their Future for the Better.
In short, this project transforms our work by ensuring that every young person we serve is equipped not only with skills, but also with the belief that they are stronger than their circumstances and capable of thriving.
'Developing a Grateful Mindset does not experience fear or anger.'
Donate to Embrace Your Shine;
Building Supportive Housing for Underrepresented Communities
Agency History
Embrace Your Shine ✨ was founded out of lived experience. After leaving a hostile workplace and facing housing insecurity firsthand, our CoFounder, Rosana Polanco, made the decision to work for herself and create the kind of opportunity and support system she didn’t have. Within two years, she led the acquisition of donated land for what is now the Embrace Life Campus and secured the funding necessary for early-stage development, including architectural planning. What began as a personal vision for transformation has become a growing movement to reimagine how Kansas City supports youth and young adults who are capable but overlooked.
CoFounder, Gary Henke, desires to provide his experience, expertise and insight to the nonprofit and its participants to see success and growth in its and their goals. His experience consists of years of corporate experience, successful small business development and commercial property management and construction. During the latter he learned the art of mentoring those who have struggled and or starting their careers and have seen both progress and failure. Learning from all situations was a valuable tool that can be used in this new endeavor.
