Supporting Youth Experiencing Homelessness
I must have been five or six at the time. I was home after school. Mom was in the kitchen making dinner. I was in the living room watching a TV show called Highway to Heaven. In the episode, The main character was helping someone in need, getting them on their feet. The scene gripped me. It hasn’t let go. It was the first time I watched another person go out of their way to ensure the goodness of humanity, to help someone with no expectation of return. Something about it spoke into my soul. Even though it was through TV, it felt like I was watching the teachings of Jesus or Buddha or Superman play out before my eyes. From then on, it has been my charitable focus.
Throughout my life I have volunteered, supported, and donated to programs to help with ending homelessness. Cooking and serving meals, stocking shelves, cleaning bathrooms, sharing resources, raising money, and giving my time to humans in need. It is an issue affecting the corners of our society that I feel strongly about. While the cracks of society may be widening, it is my mission to help fill them with light. Through my experiences I have seen many examples of high quality programs. From housing solutions to educational models, from health support to job placement programs. Everyone of them uniquely serving the needs of the young people in our communities. I believe the most vulnerable of our communities are the most precious to the preservation of human goodness. We should be doing everything we can to ensure the youth of our communities have the resources they need to develop and thrive. To let no person sour at the thought of their future.
During weird times like these in our history, priorities often shed. I wish they didn’t but they do. I see it all over my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. The numbers are rising. Knowing this, and as a creative, compassionate, entrepreneurial person I must find ways to put more resources into programs that offer support and guidance to the kids in our neighborhoods and communities. That’s why proceeds from every sale of our products are set aside to distribute to programs that support youth experiencing homelessness. Specifically here in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. As time permits, and as this business grows, more resources will be allocated to cities surrounding my community, and as a lifelong mission, to programs around the country. My wish is to be at the end of my life with enough support for the children in the United States to never know hunger or homelessness ever again.
The stats below were taken from endhomelessness.org:
How Many Youth Are Homeless?
On a single night in 2019, 35,038 unaccompanied youth were counted as homeless. Of those, 89 percent were between the ages of 18 to 24. The remaining 11 percent (or 3,976 unaccompanied children) were under the age of 18.
50 percent of homeless youth are unsheltered — sleeping outside, in a car, or some place not meant for human habitation.
The Alliance estimates that over the course of a year, approximately 550,000 unaccompanied youth and young adults up to age 24 experience a homelessness episode of longer than one week. More than half are under the age of 18.
These numbers are imprecise, and the single night number is likely an undercount. Communities are working to improve the way they collect data and their Point-In-Time Counts in order to more accurately reflect the numbers of unaccompanied young people experiencing homelessness.
What Causes Youth Homelessness?
Youth homelessness is often rooted in family conflict. Other contributing factors include economic circumstances like poverty and housing insecurity, racial disparities, and mental health and substance use disorders. Young people who have had involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are also more likely to become homeless.
Many homeless youth and young adults have experienced significant trauma before and after becoming homeless and are particularly vulnerable, including victims of sexual trafficking and exploitation. Youth who identify as LGBTQ; pregnant and parenting youth; youth with special needs or disabilities, and youth of color, particularly African-American and Native American youth, are also more likely to become homeless.
While this information is good to have on hand, it’s simply a stat. The stat doesn’t change unless we get involved. That’s why we’re dedicated to donating proceeds from the sale of every product to programs in our community. At Barnes Cards we are committed to contributing to these 3 core principles:
Restoring hope
Providing resources
Offering guidance
With your help, we can address these things head on and fill the corners of the world with more light.
