Monika Davis - True Stories of Teen Homelessness

Opposite : Worldwide, millions of homeless teenagers face an uncertain future when they live on the streets without safe, permanent shelter.

I n 2014, the Make Them Visible Foundation conducted and filmed a social experiment. The resulting study intended to answer the following question: Have the homeless become so invisible [that] we wouldnt notice our own family members living on the street?

Set up in New York City, the foundation asked relatives of various longtime New York residents to dress up as homeless individuals for the day. The relativessisters, mothers, and uncles of the residentsthen sat on street corners that the residents passed every day. One by one, each of the New Yorkers walked past their family members: people they knew, respected, and lovedand didnt notice them. Most of them hardly glanced at the people they thought were part of New Yorks homeless population.

Homelessness is an issue all around the world. But, for such a pervasive and global issue, homelessness is a topic often misunderstood and unacknowledged. Individuals and families who are homeless find themselves ignored in their own communities. They are invisible; and often, they are utterly isolated.

In the most basic sense, being homeless means that one doesnt have a home. A more in-depth definition refers to an individual or familys lack of a constant, safe, and warm shelter. But being homeless translates to more than a simple lack of shelter. For homeless people around the world, it also denotes a lack of Stability , the increased risk of health problems, and exposure to a litany of other concerns. Homeless individuals are some of the most vulnerable of a countrys population, and perhaps the most vulnerable set of any homeless population is its teenagers.

You worry about freezing to death. You worry about being robbed and beaten up ... about where youre going to get something to eat.

Karen, fifteen years old (Covenant House, Toronto, 2012)

Entering your teenage years signals the beginning of substantial change and growth. It means growing up physically, emotionally, and mentally, and this puts a heady number of stressors on young adults. Its a lot to handle for any young adult. Some teenagers dealing with these multiple new stressors are also growing up homeless. It can be difficult to understand not only how this vulnerable population copes but also how they became homeless in the first place.

When it comes to understanding any issue, its logical to start at the beginning with history and numbers. Thats where well start, but statistics only give a clinicalthough startlingview of the issue of homelessness. To dive deeper, well spend time meeting young adults living on the streets in three cities around the world and learning more about their lives.

First, well examine cases of homeless teens in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. This population densityand the poor living conditions of the citys slumsleads to many teenagers sleeping in cemeteries and eating garbage from dump sites to stay alive.

Next, well move New York City, which happens to have one of the highest homeless populations across the United States. Here, well look at the citys growing homeless population, while meeting homeless teenagers who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Homeless LGBTQIA+ teenagers are some of the most at-risk homeless youth, and the hardships they face are specific and unique to them.

Finally, we will explore Nairboi, Kenya, a city with thousands of young teenagers living on the streets, most of whom are coping with dangerous addictions. These homeless youths are struggling to find a way to combat the hunger and misery of being alone on the streets, but, unfortunately, this often translates into risky addictions. These teenagers face a community that is less than understanding, which makes it difficult for them to get help when they need it most.