From Culture Shock to Community Change: EmRhys Jenkins Co-Founds Allies of Unhoused Youth
The first-year experience is a big adjustment for many students. For EmRhys Jenkins ‘26, it was more jarring than most.
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Going from being on the street to an extremely rich college was quite a difficult adjustment. The first year had its ups and downs, times when I was grateful to be here, and times when I felt like, 'I hate it here, this is really difficult, and I’m struggling to relate with my peers.'
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But finding community is what got Jenkins through the rough times. A key part of that community was their randomly assigned roommate, Melanie Robertson ‘26.
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I probably wouldn’t be at CC had it not been for the ability to connect with Melanie. Sometimes you just click with a person right away, and that happened on some levels with Mel and I. She is curious and open to different perspectives without making automatic assumptions.
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At the end of their first year, Robertson had leftover meal plan money. Instead of letting it go to waste, the roommates launched a food drive to support The Place, a local non-profit that assists youth experiencing homelessness. Jenkins had once been a client of The Place.
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Our first project was using extra meal plan money to buy out the entire C-store. We filled the car so full of food that it probably wasn’t legal to drive it.
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Jenkins and Robertson sought ways to expand their early momentum. Already serving as youth liaison on The Place’s board, Jenkins invited friends to city council meetings, drew more peers into advocacy, and began rallying supporters.
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I started with, like, feeling like I had allies, and these friends of mine were my allies, and figuring out this work.
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With Robertson’s encouragement, those informal efforts grew into a structured plan. In the fall of 2024, Allies of Unhoused Youth became an officially recognized campus club.
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I’d make the claim that we’re the biggest club on campus, because everyone we talk to, and engage with on some level is an ally. At any given meeting there are around 20 people, with another 30 or so actively involved.
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A cornerstone of the group is working alongside community organizations.
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We are allies of initiatives on the ground. There’s a tendency among many young activists to jump in with solutions, but there are so many initiatives on the ground right now that need our resources and support. Allies of Unhoused Youth only exists because there are organizations to leverage our efforts with.
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One such partner is the Colorado Springs Pro-Housing Partnership, co-founded by Max Kronstadt ’20.
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I was connected to Max through a professor. It was just such a lucky timeline for me. He had just begun organizing the homeless union, and invited me to come along for this journey. And then I was asking him for support in figuring out how to get this club going. So he’s been my primary mentor the past few years.
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Though Jenkins’s first months at CC were rocky, they’ve built a deep sense of belonging and purpose, and they plan to stay in Colorado Springs after graduation to continue the work.
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I’d certainly say Colorado Springs will always be a space that I’ve considered home for at least a time, and I do plan on staying likely for a few years after graduation.
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For their leadership and advocacy, Jenkins was recently named a recipient of the prestigious Campus Compact Student Leadership Award, a national honor recognizing outstanding contributions to civic engagement.
$20,000+
worth of food the Allies of Unhoused Youth collected at their last food drive for The Place.
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