“I Used to Be Homeless”

The first night Han* slept in a homeless shelter, she cried into her pillow for hours. Then 17, Han had grown up in an abusive environment in Ogden, Utah. According to the teen, her mother often lashed out—both physically and verbally. As a result, Han was in constant fear for her life.

With no family members able to take her in and nowhere else to turn, Han eventually made the gut-wrenching decision to run away. She packed as much as she could fit into a backpack—some clothes, a toothbrush, and a comb—and set out for a nearby homeless shelter. 

Looking back on her first night there, Han, now 18, recalls lying on a wooden bunk bed in a room with three other girls. At the time, she was overwhelmed by a combination of fear, sadness, and relief.

“I knew I was finally safe,” says Han. “But at the same time, I felt like I’d just lost everything.”

The first night Han* slept in a homeless shelter, she cried into her pillow for hours. Then 17, Han had grown up in an abusive environment in Ogden, Utah. According to the teen, her mother often lashed out physically and verbally. So Han was in constant fear for her life.

Han had no family members able to take her in. She had nowhere else to turn. So she eventually made the gut-wrenching decision to run away. She packed as much as she could fit into a backpack. That included some clothes, a toothbrush, and a comb. Then she set out for a nearby homeless shelter.

Han, now 18, looks back on her first night there. She recalls lying on a wooden bunk bed. She was in a room with three other girls. At the time, she was overwhelmed by a combination of fear, sadness, and relief.

“I knew I was finally safe,” says Han. “But at the same time, I felt like I’d just lost everything.”

Han was just one of an estimated 700,000 American teens ages 13 to 17 who are on their own and homeless each year. They do not have a permanent home with their families. So they are forced to move from one friend’s house to another. Or they have to sleep in shelters, cars, or motels. Sometimes, they have to sleep outside, in parks or alleys.

Like Han, most homeless teens have run away to escape abuse or a family member’s drug or alcohol problems. Others have been kicked out after clashing with a parent over their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Teens who experience homelessness on their own face unique and staggering challenges. They often suffer from severe stress, depression, addiction, or loneliness. Many of them lack a strong support system. For example, they lack trusted friends and relatives to turn to for help. Some struggle to stay in school. This puts their ability to get jobs in the future in jeopardy.

“Young people experiencing homelessness have typically dealt with many forms of trauma and adversity,” says David Howard of Covenant House. That is an organization that provides support for homeless teens. “These young people may not have a home, but they do have hopes, dreams, and determination.”

The U.S. has been dealing with teen homelessness for generations. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, more than 250,000 homeless kids rode freight trains across the country. They were searching for work. They were known as “boxcar children.” Their situation improved as more jobs became available in the 1940s.

Today, youth homelessness appears to be on the rise in many areas of the country. Take King County, Washington, for example. The number of homeless teens there increased by 700 percent between 2016 and 2017. In San Diego, California, the number jumped by about 40 percent in that time.

Experts say one reason for the apparent increase is that communities are getting better at collecting data on the number of homeless teens. That is a good thing, notes Howard. Having accurate figures is the first step toward addressing the problem. Still, authorities agree that the number of kids in crisis remains alarmingly high.

While the causes vary, homeless teens tend to have one thing in common. Most of them have few people—if anyone—they can rely on for help.   

That was certainly the case for Savohn.* The summer before his senior year of high school in Orlando, Florida, Savohn says he had a huge fight with his mom and was kicked out of his house.

For months, he moved from one place to another, carrying all of his belongings in a tote bag. Sometimes he got lucky and was able to stay with friends or his older sister. But on other nights, he slept on a bench at a bus stop. “It was hard to fall asleep because I was so hungry,” he recalls. “I cried every night.”

Through it all, Savohn continued to go to school. Depending on where he’d stayed the night before, he sometimes walked 20 miles to get to class—a journey that took about 5 hours. He couldn’t afford to take a bus, so on those days he forced himself to wake up at three in the morning to make it to his first class.

At the time, he desperately tried to hide his situation from his classmates. “I didn’t tell anybody,” he says. “I felt embarrassed.”

Still, Savohn remained focused on school and his passion for singing, dancing, and acting. All that hard work is now paying off.

Today, Savohn, now 20, is a freshman at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, a performing arts college in New York City. He says he’s hoping to put the past behind him: “It’s like starting a new life.”

The causes vary. But homeless teens tend to have one thing in common. Most of them have few people, if anyone, they can rely on for help.

That was certainly the case for Savohn.* Savohn says he had a huge fight with his mom and was kicked out of his house. It was the summer before his senior year of high school in Orlando, Florida.

For months, he moved from one place to another. He carried all of his belongings in a tote bag. Sometimes he got lucky and was able to stay with friends or his older sister. But on other nights, he slept on a bench at a bus stop. “It was hard to fall asleep because I was so hungry,” he recalls. “I cried every night.”

Through it all, Savohn continued to go to school. Depending on where he had stayed the night before, he sometimes walked 20 miles to get to class. The journey took about five hours. He could not afford to take a bus. So on those days he forced himself to wake up at three in the morning to make it to his first class.

At the time, he desperately tried to hide his situation from his classmates. “I didn’t tell anybody,” he says. “I felt embarrassed.”

Still, Savohn remained focused on school and his passion for singing, dancing, and acting. All that hard work is now paying off.

Today, Savohn is 20. He is a freshman at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. That is a performing arts college in New York City. He says he is hoping to put the past behind him. “It’s like starting a new life,” he says.

Many experts agree that the U.S. can end teen homelessness—but it will require a lot of work. For one thing, they say, the government must do more to ensure that young people are able to get the help they need before becoming homeless. That includes increasing access to—and funding for—mental health services, counseling for drug or alcohol addiction, and job training.

The country also needs more shelters for homeless teens who are on their own, like Han and Savohn. Nationwide, only 4,000 shelter beds are available to homeless youths who aren’t accompanied by their families.

Working to end stereotypes about homeless people is another important part of the solution, says Howard.

Many experts agree that the U.S. can end teen homelessness. But they say it will require a lot of work. For one thing, they believe that the government must do more to ensure that young people can get the help they need before becoming homeless. That would mean increasing access to—and funding for—certain services. Such services might include mental health assistance, counseling for drug or alcohol addiction, and job training.

The country also needs more shelters for homeless teens who are on their own, like Han and Savohn. Nationwide, only 4,000 shelter beds are available to homeless youths who are not accompanied by their families.

Working to end stereotypes about homeless people is another important part of the solution, says Howard.

“There’s often a sense that these young people are sort of broken,” he says. “But these are not broken people. They’re young people who’ve experienced incredible hardships. And we can help them.” (See “How YOU Can Help,” below.)

There are challenges ahead. But experts say that some progress has already been made. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded tens of millions of dollars to dozens of cities across the country. The hope is that these cities can find innovative solutions to teen homelessness. Such strategies could then be shared nationwide.

Last year, for example, San Diego was awarded nearly $8 million. The city is using the money to help create a system to quickly link homeless teens to housing and other services tailored to their needs.

Han, the teen from Utah, eventually found the help she needed. During the 11 months she spent at the youth shelter, she met regularly with therapists who coached her through the crisis. With their guidance, she continued to go to school, even signing up for extracurricular activities to strengthen her leadership skills. And she gratefully accepted the food and school supplies the shelter made available.  

That support helped Han graduate from high school at the top of her class and win scholarships to college. Today, she’s a freshman at Weber State University in Utah, where she’s studying political science. She says her struggle with homeless­ness taught her about the importance of reaching out for help and, ultimately, her own inner strength.

“You might be at the worst point in your life right now,” she says. “But eventually it’s going to get better. Never ever, ever give up.”

Han, the teen from Utah, eventually found the help she needed. During the 11 months she spent at the youth shelter, she met regularly with therapists. They coached her through the crisis. With their guidance, she continued to go to school. She even signed up for extracurricular activities to strengthen her leadership skills. And she gratefully accepted the food and school supplies the shelter made available.

That support helped Han graduate from high school at the top of her class. She also won scholarships to college. Today, she is a freshman at Weber State University in Utah. She is studying political science. Han says her struggle with homelessness taught her about the importance of reaching out for help. And ultimately, it taught her about her own inner strength.

“You might be at the worst point in your life right now,” she says. “But eventually it’s going to get better. Never ever, ever give up.”