Turntable Won’t Stop Until Young People Find Their Safe Place

Robynne Jeisman simply wants young people to find a safe place where they feel like they truly belong. As the executive director of recently launched Turntable, that’s what Jeisman gets to do every day. 

The San Francisco Bay Area-based nonprofit provides housing and support for youth who have experienced juvenile justice, sexual exploitation, homelessness, and those at-risk of human trafficking. 

The name “Turntable” itself has significance. DJs often use two turntables for mixing songs together to create a new sound and, as Jeisman says, they feel strongly that growth and transformation can happen by working alongside the youth they help. 

“The aim is that wherever they’re at, they’ll ultimately feel safe in their mind, in their body, in their bedroom, in their house, in their neighborhood, in their city, and in their world,” Jeisman says. 

Jeisman, who has over 20 years of experience working with at-risk youth in both her native country Australia and the U.S., “feels a calling” to be working with young people aged 12 to 25.

When it comes to housing needs, Turntable coordinates community-based support in order to make an assessment on the “risks, needs, and goals” of the youth Turntable seeks to serve. 

“We provide pathways… and once we have established a safe place for them to live and we integrate that in with the community-based support, then I begin to assess if they need a mentor or other support,” Jeisman says. 

One of Turntable’s most impactful cases, according to Jeisman, was when a young man got the keys to his own place. “Now, he’s got all these dreams for the future that he didn’t have before, just [that] simple fact … was enough for his eyes to lift and start to dream,” she said.

From teaching youth how to budget and optimize their time efficiently; stressing the importance of emotional intelligence and effective communication; helping young men and women with resumé writing and job searches; also making the necessary resources available to young and single parents, Turntable’s impact knows no bounds.