West Metro Homeless Youth Task Force
Teens Alone's primary goal is to help prevent families from breaking apart and, if they are already separated, help in the reunification effort. It is difficult, if not impossible for students to be effective learners if their home is a battleground or they don't know where they will be sleeping night-to-night.Last year Teens Alone counselors saw a four-fold increase in the number of throwaway and homeless youth. Most suburbanites think if they don't see kids in sleeping bags under bridges, we don't have a homeless problem. Yet it seems like every time we talk about "couch-hoppers" (those youth who go from friend to friend's houses until a parent asks them to move on), someone says, "Oh that's what it's called. Those kids have been at my house before. It never occurred to me to call them homeless!" Too often, adults think homeless and runaway kids are "those kids"...the ones with blue hair or black fingernails. They are surprised when "those kids" look just like their own kids. Because suburban youth's problems may be better hidden, the community is surprised to find out such things are going on in their own neighborhood.
Our counselors also receive many calls from parents who say, "We have this young person staying with us, but I didn't know it was going to last so long. I want him gone. What do I do?" Counselors know of at least three young people who slept in garages last winter. One had been staying in her friend's garage for almost a week until the friend's mother discovered her early one morning. One of our core beliefs is we believe it is our responsibility to
communicate issues regarding west suburban youth to the community. Therefore, on November 15, Teens Alone hosted a West Suburban Homeless Youth Summit. More than 50 people attended and showed enthusiasm for continuing the conversation.
About 30 people are now meeting monthly. At the December 2006 follow up meeting, it was decided to form a West Metro Homeless Youth Task Force. The public is invited to these meetings. Call 952-988-4086 for more information.
Overview of State Wide Efforts on Youth Homelessness
Excerpts from April 2005 Wilder Report
Committee Long Term Goals
Committee Short Term Goals
Are you interested in helping? Only four meetings in five months! After all, if we don't help, who will? Find out more!
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1-952-988-TEEN