Breaktime's 2030 Vision: Becoming a Hub for Solving Young Adult Homelessness

As Breaktime approached a pivotal inflection point in the summer of 2023 – getting ready to celebrate our five-year anniversary and nearing the completion of our original strategic plan – it was time to begin preparing for our journey to 2030. With nearly five years of data to back the success of our model, and systems in place to maintain its growth, we were in a position to be ambitious. I challenged our Leadership Team to think big. We asked ourselves, "What is Breaktime's Mount Everest, and how could we conquer it by 2030?"

The answer became the central theme for our next strategic plan—a vision of Breaktime as a hub for solving young adult homelessness, a dynamic center of support, innovation, and collaboration for young adults across Massachusetts.

To scale this ambitious peak, we needed a roadmap. I started by immersing myself in conversations with team members, Associates, and community leaders, gaining valuable insights across hundreds of conversations that underscored the power of collective vision. As we narrowed the throughlines, Breaktime’s 2030 plan began to focus on three key goals we would need to reach the summit:?

1. Expanding job and financial security programs to support over 5,000 program enrollments
2. Creating a one-stop support network through strong partnerships for coordinated care
3. Driving systemic change by amplifying young adult voices, advancing research, and advocating for policy reform.?

These goals empower us to serve young adults more effectively, strengthen collaboration across Massachusetts, and help build a future where youth homelessness is addressed holistically.

As the team unpacked what it meant for Breaktime to become a "hub" in our service ecosystem, we agreed upon a primary guiding principle. Breaktime’s mission has never been about doing everything but rather doing what we do best—and doing it exceptionally. So, when building a “hub,” we will not look to replicate existing services but instead to leverage and amplify them through collaboration.

This means partnering closely with other organizations for coordinated care, so every young adult who comes to Breaktime feels they are connected to a one-stop network of support, even when certain services fall outside Breaktime’s core offerings. It also means making a commitment to broaden access to support without diluting the quality or impact of its work. Expanding Virtual Launchpad and exploring partnerships with organizations like Father Bill's are great examples of putting this work into action.

Looking ahead to 2030, the final destination in our roadmap involves the achievement of an even larger goal: working with our partners to make Massachusetts the first state to achieve functional zero young adult homelessness. This means reducing the incidence of young adult homelessness in the commonwealth until they can be classified as brief, rare, and non-recurring. Our "hub" will play a central role in making this a reality for the unhoused young adults in our communities. Later this week, we will be sharing an exciting announcement about our next steps towards building the “hub” and the immediate impact it will have.

To us, this roadmap is more than just a plan—it’s a promise that Breaktime will continue to evolve and grow, building upon its strengths to serve as a beacon of possibility for young adults in Massachusetts. The journey to 2030 has begun, and with a dedicated community by its side, Breaktime is ready to climb its Everest.

Stay tuned for a very exciting announcement in the coming weeks and more updates on how we plan to navigate our journey toward becoming a hub for solving young adult homelessness.