http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/07/08/denver.homeless.youth/index.html?hpt=C1
The face of America's homeless youth
- Hundreds of homeless teens and young adults live in Denver, Colorado
- Many fled abusive families or foster parents
- Doyle "Sox" Robinson has opened a drop-in center for homeless youths
- "They are just like any other kids out there," Robinson says
Editor's Note: Getting off the streets can be a daunting challenge for homeless young people. But in some cities, stories of hope are emerging. Watch "Campbell Brown," Thursday at 8 p.m. ET for more.
Denver, Colorado (CNN) -- When the sun dips below the Rocky Mountains and the streets of Denver go dark, Lokki, his girlfriend Magic and their friend Tripp head home.
They climb in between the rafters of a highway overpass, crouching as they sit under the concrete structure that rumbles with every car that crosses overhead.
It is where they will sleep tonight. It is where they say they can live safely after escaping from abusive homes.
"It's pretty hard," says Magic, 18, when asked about living on the streets. "But most of the time it's just life, you know. Life's not going to be easy."
She refuses to talk about what caused her to leave home.
Her boyfriend Lokki has a different outlook: He says he enjoys the fun and freedom of life on the streets.
"I don't really have to worry about anything," says Lokki, 20. "I get some food and kick back with the homies."
Out of the three friends, Tripp seems to be the most concerned about the future. He says he began living on the streets two years ago, after escaping a violent relationship with his stepfather.
"If I defended myself against him, I always got looked at badly," he said. "So when I turned 18, I left."
He stops talking as he watches a homeless man walk by.
"I'd hate to think that's the way I'm going," says Tripp. "That I'm going to end up being 40 years old and on the streets."
Getting off the streets is a daunting challenge for these young adults and others like them, who have no address, no job, very little education, and many times drug addictions and mental health issues.
"We see a lot of kids really since age of 7 or 8 [who] haven't had any real roots to call their own," according to Tom Manning, spokesman for Covenant House, which helps those who are young and homeless. "Those are the 18-year-olds who [have] very limited education and really need to start from square one."
Manning, who has worked with homeless youths for 20 years, said a key goal is reaching these young adults before they "disappear into the streets."
"It sounds like a movie, but it's true: Pimps and traffickers, they spot these kids and go after them," Manning said. "If we don't get to them, many will end up on drugs or in prison."
The youths can be helped, he said, if they can learn to establish healthy relationships with others.
"It's a trust issue: Most of these kids have been abused and taken advantage of by every adult they've met," Manning said.
Trust is at the heart of the family that Lokki has created for a small group of his friends living on the streets of Denver.
They call themselves "Juggalos" -- the name for fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse. But now, the name has a more important meaning.
"Juggalos started as a family for people who feel like they don't have family," Lokki explained. "Other people see it as a gang, but we just look out for each other any way we can."
They mostly hang out, swimming in the Platte River or -- if they manage to panhandle a few dollars -- buying beer or marijuana.
Most days, they eat lunch at Sox Place, which was set up in 2002 by Doyle "Sox" Robinson. He got his street name after spending a year handing out clean socks to street kids.
Every day, about 100 young people come by to eat lunch, use the computers, watch movies and also pick up a fresh pair of socks.
"They are just like any other kids out there, they have the same struggles, the same issues," Doyle said. "They still want love, they want acceptance, they want protections, they want rules, they want to be held accountable."
Robinson said his goal is simply to provide a stable place where they can be loved for who they are.
"I don't try to change them," he said. "If they want to change, we're here for them. If they don't want to change, wer'e still going to love them."
Robinson, 55, says his Christian faith motivates him to help these kids, although he doesn't try to push religion on anyone at Sox Place. He says he lies awake at night after hearing their stories of abuse and neglect.
"It shakes my faith in people," he said. "How can we allow this to happen in our own country?"
Read more about Robinson's perspective on faith
The Obama administration recently unveiled a plan to end homelessness in the United States over the next decade. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness will "harness public and private resources to build on the innovations that have been demonstrated at the local level nationwide," according to council chairman Shaun Donavan.
Robinson is skeptical about whether the government can adequately address the root causes of homelessness.
"We need less government and more grass roots," he said. "We need taxes not to go to renovating parks, but renovating lives."
All the government can really do is put a roof over someone's head, he said. And that doesn't necessarily constitute a "home."
"They don't have a home, the sense of family," Robinson said. "All we're doing is pushing them to the sides, we're not dealing with the real issues."
Belle wandered into Sox Place one afternoon in June, a pretty young woman with an air of confidence that contrasts with the cuts across her cheek and the brace on her knee, injuries she said were inflicted by her pimp.
"People think it's a choice to be on the streets, but it's never a choice," said Belle, 18.
She said she has been sexually abused since she was 6 years old and was in and out of foster care until recently.
Now, she is living in a camp with other homeless kids, hiding from her pimp.
"Yeah, it's not a house, but a house isn't everything," she said. "Family. Love. Friends. This is my family. All I ever wanted was a family."
She wants to go to college to study psychology and help other street kids, but she knows the odds are against her.
"I don't have the building blocks to get up in life, to be able to do what I need to do, because I never learned it," she said. "I have to learn that on my own."
The odds were against Liz Martinez, who left home at age 12 and eventually became a member of the Juggalos.
"They were better than my own biological family," said Martinez, who is now 21. "They didn't put their hands on me, they fed me, they kept me safe, they cared about how I felt."
After nearly a decade on the streets, she has just gotten her first apartment with her boyfriend and is looking forward to a more stable future for her 5-month-old daughter.
"I have almost $1,000 saved up from selling plasma and doing day labor, and hopefully in the next month and a half to three months, I'll have my GED," she said.
Martinez has drawn strength from living on the streets, and she thinks others can do the same:
"If you can survive off of living on the street and sleeping on cold concrete or behind a Dumpster when it's snowing, you know you have the strength to do just about anything."
Report: Foster Kids Face Tough Times After Age 18
by Pam Fessler- April 7, 2010
It's hard turning 18 — moving out, finding a job, going to college. But many foster children have to do it by themselves, without the lifeline to parents and home that helps many teens ease into independence.
A major report out Wednesday says that many former foster kids have a tough time out on their own. When they age out of the system, they're more likely than their peers to end up in jail, homeless or pregnant. They're also less likely to have a job or go to college.
Life can be a struggle for these young people, even with help from the government and nonprofit agencies.
An Abrupt Cutoff
Take Josh Mendoza, a shy young man from Tampa, Fla., with soulful eyes and a hint of dark hair along his upper lip. He lived in 14 different group homes after he was removed from his mother's care more than two years ago because she used drugs.
But now he's just turned 18, and like 30,000 other foster teens this year, he's suddenly out on his own.
"This is my apartment," Mendoza says as he opens the door to a ground floor unit at an apartment complex in Tampa. The living room is empty except for a navy blue futon and a small TV. The white walls are bare. He has only been here for two weeks. There's food in the cupboard, but not a lot: some spaghetti, Cream of Wheat and cereal.
Living on your own is a little weird, says Mendoza. It's kind of lonely and a challenge, he says. His only cooking experience in foster care was heating soup in the microwave. He looks at a frying pan on top of his new stove. The bottom is covered with congealed fat.
"Yesterday, I was trying to cook, but I don't think it turned out too good," Mendoza says. "With the burgers, it kind of got burnt."
But unlike many foster care teens, Mendoza has been getting some help.
Nick Reschke is Mendoza's transition specialist, a kind of big brother/parent provided to foster youth in the Tampa area. He helped Mendoza find his apartment, sign the lease and move in.
"The day he turned 18, we went to pick up his check, went grocery shopping, went over a list of what he needs, what his budgets are," says Reschke, who also helped Mendoza pick up some donated furniture and supplies. "And then after that, Josh and I, we pretty much just cleaned the apartment up, wiped down the counters, wiped down the cabinets and set up his house. And that was his first night."
It was also Mendoza's 18th birthday.
"We have an abrupt cutoff, like most states," says Diane Zambito, who runs Connected by 25, a Tampa nonprofit that is trying to smooth the transition for former foster care youth. "We go from 'you're in foster care, where you may handle $10 a month' to 'you're responsible for everything.' "
Zambito says things have come a long way since 10 years ago, when some foster kids here turned 18, put their belongings in a plastic bag and were taken to the nearest homeless shelter because they had nowhere else to go. But she says it's still not enough.
"We need to offer something for these young people other than, 'Here's Option A: Fall off the cliff,' " she says.
Clinging To The Edge
The new study — from Chapin Hall, a policy research center at the University of Chicago — finds that those who age out of foster care are not exactly falling off a cliff, but they are desperately clinging to the edge.
Mark Courtney is with Partners for Our Children, a policy center at the University of Washington. Over the past eight years, Courtney and colleagues from Chapin Hall have been following the progress of more than 600 former foster kids.
"Many of them are faring poorly," says Courtney. "Less than half were employed at 23, 24. They're much less likely to have finished high school, less likely to be enrolled in college or have a college degree."
In fact, by age 24, only 6 percent have two- or four-year degrees. More than two-thirds of the young women have children. Nearly 60 percent of the males have been convicted of a crime. Almost a quarter were homeless at some point after leaving foster care.
"Those children are our children, the children of society, of the state," says Courtney. "I would argue that we have no business taking them into care and then keeping them until they're in the transition to adulthood, unless we're going to try to do a good job of that."
They're trying in Tampa.
Raising An Adult
Two weeks after his 18th birthday, Josh Mendoza meets his advisers at a GED program for those aging out of care.
"All right, so Josh, you know we do this once a month," says Sarah Hart, the program coordinator. "You've been in the hot seat before, so let's start by getting an update on your progress."
Hart is concerned because the first day Mendoza was on his own, in his new apartment, he didn't come to school.
"Why is that, Josh?" she asks.
Mendoza sheepishly explains that his alarm clock didn't go off and he missed his bus. He says he had no other way to get there. Hart responds as a parent might.
"My question is, did you call Mr. Mark or Miss Colette to let them know you weren't going to be here that day?" she asks.
"No," says Josh.
"OK. You know, those things are going to happen," Hart responds. "You've just turned 18, and you're getting adjusted to coming from a new place. I mean, I get all that. If that happens again, though, you have to call your teachers and let them know. That's part of being responsible."
Mendoza knows he can't afford to screw up. His $1,256 monthly stipend from the state is contingent on him staying in school.
"If I lose my check, I'm going to the street," he says. "And then I wouldn't know what to do, or who to ask, or who to turn to."
A Resilient Group
Researchers say former foster kids who have someone to rely on do better than those who don't. But right now, only a handful of states provide foster care beyond 18. While several other states are planning to do so in response to a new federal law, state budget problems could put a crimp in those plans. In Florida, there's even talk about cutting the stipend for former foster kids in half.
But Courtney says this is also a resilient group. By age 24, about half of those surveyed in his new study appear to be doing OK. Their lives have begun to stabilize.
Katrena Wingo of Tampa considers herself one of those people. At 24, she has a job and a place for her and her 3-year-old son, Ajai, to live. It's a tiny duplex, but with a yard big enough for her to play with him when she comes home from work.
But it's been a long haul getting here. Wingo entered foster care as an infant and stayed until her 18th birthday. After she aged out, she was OK for a while, but then she got pregnant. She stopped working and spent months moving from one friend's sofa to another.
"And at the time I wasn't going to school," she says. "So it was hard."
Eventually, with the help of friends, some family members and the nonprofit Connected by 25, she began to turn her life around. Wingo says perhaps the biggest eye opener was having a child of her own.
"It's just like, OK, you have another life in here that you brought into this world. And now everything that you do, everything that you own, everything that you spend, is not only yours or for you, it's for your child now. So he's your No. 1 priority," she says.
Wingo still depends on food stamps — and on her landlord to cut her some slack when the rent is due. But she's back in school trying to earn her degree. She hopes someday to become a counselor for troubled youth.
And Josh Mendoza? He says that if he gets his college degree, his goal is to run group homes.
Copyright 2010 National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125594259&sc=17&f=1001
Greetings Advisors and Partners and Happy New Year to you and yours. We know everyone has been excited to hear about our growth in 2009 as a new statewide non-profit along with the details of our success at our Houston event in November. We had a blast and we were very proud of what our community created. Following the event we processed payments and worked with Austin Community Foundation to find out the results while I worked with the Grammy Nominated musical group Conspirare. That opportunity was great for Grace as we placed featured information in the program for 7 shows around Texas. What a great ending for the year! Finally Alison and I were then able to spend time with our families for the holidays. Thank you for your patience and allowing us that time before producing this letter.
RESULTS
As funds rolled in we gave a lot of thanks and still are! In a difficult economy and at our first fundraising event in Houston we have so far received $37,000 and are anticipating an additional $$8,000 in the next 30 to 60 days. Our efforts will allow us to grant 2 new scholarships in the Houston area along with 2 in Austin with funding that has not yet been granted.
Thank you to everyone involved in raising these funds, our sponsors, Warehouse Live, Sidney Frank, Berryhill, all our advocates and volunteers, Jennifer & Leah, Jeff Young, Laura & Krista, and Erin & her crew for introducing us to the Houston community. It is a great start!
ESTABLISHED & NEW SCHOLARSHIPS
Lifeworks is continuing to partner with us to manage funds for three existing recipients. One will be returning to school, one will get needed health care provided by donated services in our growing network and one has invested some of her funds in a matching funds account that will double her funding for continuing education and growing her business endeavors.
Finally on the new recipient front we had an amazing new development using Grace funds in the Lifeworks system for an emergency situation. I received a phone call from our contact at Lifeworks Mr. Brett Barnes. He called to let me know that a young adult arrived at the Lifeworks facility just before Christmas and notified me that all of the shelters were full due to the cold weather. I had just let Brett know that we had some emergency funding available for the holidays.
This nineteen year old young man came from Ohio and has been homeless since he was 15. He was able to finish high school in Ohio through the generosity of friends giving him places to stay and by working several jobs. Brett was impressed with his resolve to finish school and thought I should meet him. He was about to be sleeping on the streets of Austin in freezing temperatures if we didn't do something. Brett knew of no other organization with the flexibility that we have.
Brett made sure he had temporary shelter, and they met me so we could conduct an interview. The young man had actually gone to lifeworks to have a warm place to sit in the lobby before they closed and he met in that little window the vice president of an international box making company in San Antonio. Within a day we got him to San Antonio for an interview where he passed a background check and drug testing, we located a boarding house, bought him a coat and gave him some work to do. It was clear he was a great fit for us and now he is working in San Antonio with a home and a new lease on life! It is amazing what we are doing. I hope you will all get to meet Mike our new recipient who is currently with us on probationary status pending his progress. Getting to know him has been great. Thanks to Todd for picking up the phone so I could get someones blessing on the fly!
DEVELOPMENT
Our statewide growth goal has now started to manifest by our movement into Houston. We will have another Houston event in November 2010. We have also discussed golf tournament possibilities for this market.
We established a relationship with the PR firm Spot On to increase our efforts in that market as we grow there. Thank you Tammy Dowe.
We completed our goal to build a state of the art web site focusing on telling our story in a concise way and for capturing funds as well as connecting to the social networking world in an appropriate and useful way for the modern era. Thank you Alison White and Caroline Valentine.
We utilized sponsorship with an employee population of a major corporation in the Houston Market. Thank you Tom Marcotte.
We have created our application requesting our own 501c3 status for the new year and have been partnering with Dale Simons to create this and our 5 year vision. Thank you Dale.
We established finance management from a third party to oversee our future as a responsible 501c3 and will transition from Austin Community Foundation in time when it is appropriate. We will work with Sarah Ross C.P.A. Thanks Ben Wade for finding a trusted professional for this role.
Established a continuing relationship with Auction committee chair Jennifer Clemonds based in Houston. She will assist in locating assistant chairs in Austin and Dallas as we grow into the Dallas community.
Established a PR partner for our Austin event tentatively scheduled for late spring. Thanks Todd Young for introducing us to Jill Ford.
Established a Recipient Mentoring chair with Artist Susan Pena in Houston. We will begin building a mentorship list and will create our modes for mentorship. I am currently mentoring all of our recipients and am so grateful we are going to have others to help so we can give the best services to our clients as possible and help ensure their success. Thanks Susan and Alison.
MOVING FORWARD
We are fielding dates for our Austin event and discussing when the right time will be for us to have an event in Dallas. We want to be mindful in this big growth year to make sure we are growing fast but very solid, so feel free to help us with your thoughts about this. We may do a pre event this summer or in September as a building event for a beginning of 2011 Dallas big Gala. Share your thoughts! Thank you so much for what you do.
Best Wishes,
Patrice
The wonderful, talented Susan Pena has created at one of a kind pendant for Grace
A percentage of the proceeds will go to benefit the Houston Chapter of The Grace Foundation of Texas!
Thank you Susan!