Structural problems need structural solutions. Eva’s, and the youth who are part of Eva’s, can be a leading voice in the identification, prevention, and policy ideas to address the factors that are breaking down Black families and stranding kids in dead ends that include increased vulnerability to homelessness, joblessness, mental health and addiction issues, poverty, violence, high rates of incarceration, and police and state violence.

But to do this, Eva’s needs to invest in its internal capacity to evaluate its own programs and approaches, innovate accordingly, as well as to strengthen its partnerships and linkages with key Black researchers and homelessness policy hubs. Bringing its critical perspective and practical knowledge into dialogue with academic rigour will be a powerful impetus for Eva’s to burst into the space with irrefutable evidence of how change needs to take place.