“Anyone Can Be Homeless”

Harper Elder, 16, biked toward school. Snow swirled around her. An icy wind stung her bare hands. She grew up near Salt Lake City, Utah, so she was used to fierce winters. But this year she was not prepared. She had no gloves or warm coat. And she had no place to call home.

It was early 2021. Harper had been crashing on her older sister’s couch. From there it was a 45-minute bike ride to school. Months earlier, years of conflict with her mother had reached a breaking point, Harper says. Her parents kicked her out. The first night, she had started walking to a friend’s house. Then she stopped. She could not bring herself to ask for help.

“I didn’t want to lose face or be vulnerable with people,” says Harper, now 20. “So I slept in a park. It was very, very scary.”

A growing number of young people share Harper’s struggle. An estimated 700,000 Americans ages 13-17 are homeless and on their own each year. That is according to government data. (The number jumps to 4.2 million when people ages 18-25 are included.) These young people lack a stable place to live. Many do not have family that supports them. They bounce between shelters, cars, and friends’ homes. Sometimes they have to sleep outside.

Homelessness affects young people in every state. And it is getting worse. The number of public school students identified as unhoused more than doubled between the 2004-05 and 2022-23 school years. That is according to the U.S. Department of Education. That includes students unhoused on their own or with their families.

But for Harper and others, homelessness does not need to be the end of their story, says Barbara Duffield. She leads SchoolHouse Connection. That is a national nonprofit. It works to overcome youth homelessness through education. “These young people can and do succeed,” Duffield says. “They often will say, ‘This is something that happened to me. This is not who I am.’ ”

Rising rents and other financial pressures often drive family homelessness. But conflict at home is the main reason teens end up homeless on their own. They are often escaping abuse, neglect, domestic violence, or a parent’s addiction.

The crisis does not affect everyone equally. Black, Latine/Hispanic, and Indigenous young people experience homelessness at higher rates than their White peers. LGBTQ+ youth are at more than double the risk as non-LGBTQ+ youth.

For teens who are homeless on their own, the first challenge is finding a safe place to stay. Many end up “couch surfing.” That means they move between temporary places. They never stay in one spot for long.

Jaden Noble of St. Louis, Missouri, knows how difficult that lifestyle can be. She ended up homeless after spiraling into grief when her older brother died of cancer in 2023. Jaden, then 18, fell into a deep depression. She did things she now regrets, like trying drugs. Her parents eventually asked her to leave, she says.

Jaden began couch surfing. Sometimes she stayed at a boyfriend’s place, though the relationship was unhealthy. Other nights, she slept on the floor of her cousin’s laundry room. She ate mostly beef jerky. 

“I didn’t know what my next move was,” she says. “It honestly felt like my life was about to end.”

Jaden Noble knows how hard that lifestyle can be. Jaden is from St. Louis, Missouri. She ended up homeless after spiraling into grief when her older brother died of cancer in 2023. She was 18 at the time. She fell into a deep depression. She did things she now regrets, like trying drugs. She says her parents eventually asked her to leave.

Jaden began couch surfing. Sometimes she stayed at a boyfriend’s place. But the relationship was unhealthy. Other nights, she slept on the floor of her cousin’s laundry room. She ate mostly beef jerky.

“I didn’t know what my next move was,” she says. “It honestly felt like my life was about to end.”

That stress is common. So is embarrassment and fear of being judged. “There’s a lot of shame around homelessness,” Harper says. 

Many young people hide their situation. They try to keep attending school while pretending everything is fine around classmates and teachers. But it’s not easy. Unhoused teens are often hungry and exhausted, experts say. They may struggle to focus. 

They also may not have access to resources, like a quiet place to study. Over time, these challenges take a toll. Unhoused students drop out of school at much higher rates than their peers, data shows. That can make it difficult to find a job later.

Harper was determined to stay in school—even if it meant biking through blizzards. “I was in survival mode,” she says. “I just did what I had to do.” (She was only able to stay with her sister for a short time. Later she found a secure place to stay with a family near her school.)

That stress is common. So are embarrassment and fear of being judged. “There’s a lot of shame around homelessness,” Harper says.

Many young people hide their situation. They try to keep going to school. They pretend everything is fine around classmates and teachers. But it is not easy. Experts say that unhoused teens are often hungry and exhausted. They may struggle to focus.

They also may not have access to resources. For example, they may not have a quiet place to study. Over time, these challenges take a toll. Data shows that unhoused students drop out of school at much higher rates than their peers. That can make it hard to find a job later.

Harper was determined to stay in school. She would even bike through blizzards. “I was in survival mode,” she says. “I just did what I had to do.” (She could stay with her sister only a short time. Later she found a safe place to stay with a family near her school.)

For many teens, the solution starts with asking for help. For example, telling a teacher at school can jump-start support. Federal law requires school districts to identify unhoused students. That is because they are entitled to special services. For example, they can receive transportation to the school they attended before becoming homeless.

Jaden’s mom reached out. She urged her to seek help at a shelter. Many cities have shelters where people experiencing homelessness can sleep, eat meals, and get medical help. But most of those places are set up for adults, not teens.

Jaden visited adult shelters. But she did not feel comfortable staying at one. “It wasn’t a good fit,” she says.

There are shelters specifically for unhoused youth. But they are not as common. Those facilities often have special resources like homework help and career prep.

Eventually, Jaden got lucky. In March 2024, she found a bed at a youth-specific shelter called Covenant House. Staff members helped Jaden rebuild her life. With their support, she got a job and an apartment.

Jaden also received grief counseling at Covenant House. Now 20, she is repairing her family relationships.

“The other day, I said, ‘I wonder if my brother would be proud of me,’ ” Jaden recalls. “My mama looked at me and said, ‘I think he would.’ ”

How can more unhoused teens get this kind of assistance? Advocates say schools and aid groups need more resources to help them identify which young people are struggling. Teens who do receive support often say they wish adults had gotten involved sooner, says Duffield of SchoolHouse Connection. 

“They say, ‘I wish someone had been looking. I wish they would have told me that help was available,’ ” she says.

Another crucial step is to create more youth-specific shelters and resources, says Leslie McGuire of Covenant House. That nonprofit has shelters for unhoused young people in 27 U.S. cities.

How can more unhoused teens get this kind of help? Advocates say schools and aid groups need more resources to help them identify which young people are struggling. Teens who do receive support often say they wish adults had gotten involved sooner, says Duffield of SchoolHouse Connection.

“They say, ‘I wish someone had been looking. I wish they would have told me that help was available,’ ” she says.

Another key step is to create more youth-specific shelters and resources, says Leslie McGuire of Covenant House. That nonprofit has shelters for unhoused young people in 27 U.S. cities.

“There’s a real shortage of beds specifically designed for young people,” says McGuire. “The adult system is more about meeting basic human needs rather than overcoming homelessness.” 

Youth shelters are also more likely to offer the emotional support teens need. Half of the young people who enter Covenant House report dealing with mental health challenges.

Prevention is also key to ending the crisis. Experts say the U.S. needs to create and expand services like mental health care, job training, and affordable housing programs to stop teen homelessness before it starts. 

“There’s a real shortage of beds specifically designed for young people,” says McGuire. “The adult system is more about meeting basic human needs rather than overcoming homelessness.”

Youth shelters are also more likely to offer the emotional support teens need. Half of the young people who enter Covenant House report dealing with mental health challenges.

Prevention is also key to ending the crisis. Experts say the U.S. needs to create and expand services like mental health care, job training, and affordable housing programs. That can help stop teen homelessness before it starts.

No longer homeless, Harper wants to be part of that solution. She tells her story to raise awareness. She has traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials and share her experiences. 

“It’s like they want to help,” she says of lawmakers, “but they just can’t figure out how.”

As for what helped her, Harper says focusing on school—as well as creative outlets, like writing and dancing—propelled her forward. The hard work paid off. Through SchoolHouse Connection, Harper earned a scholarship to a college in Utah. She’s now a sophomore studying English and creative writing. She lives in student housing, in her own room, and has a tight circle of friends. 

Looking back, Harper advises teens experiencing homelessness to do what she didn’t on that first night she had nowhere to stay: Tell people. Ask for help. Don’t suffer in silence. 

“Anyone can be homeless,” she says. But they don’t have to stay that way.

Harper wants to be part of that solution. She is no longer homeless. She tells her story to raise awareness. She has traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials. She shares her experiences.

“It’s like they want to help,” she says of lawmakers, “but they just can’t figure out how.”

As for what helped her? Harper says it was focusing on school. Creative outlets like writing and dancing played a part too. The hard work paid off. Through SchoolHouse Connection, Harper earned a scholarship to a college in Utah. She is now a sophomore. She studies English and creative writing. She lives in student housing. She has her own room and a tight circle of friends.

Looking back, Harper offers advice to teens experiencing homelessness. She suggests they do what she did not on that first night she had nowhere to stay: Tell people. Ask for help. Do not suffer in silence.

“Anyone can be homeless,” she says. But they don’t have to stay that way.”