You can’t make up these stories.

Stories of chronic abuse and a childhood on the street:

“I’ve been out on the streets since I was, um, eleven.  My mom and her boyfriend didn’t really want me around the house because they said I was a waste of space.  I suppose eleven is kind of young, except not compared to some of the kids around here.  Some of them are even nine or ten.  But… I never really had a family. My mom never treated me like a son – she kept me around because of the money she got.

Being out here wasn’t too different from being at home.  I mean, within the first week of being out here I was bashed twice, I was raped, um – some guy drugged me and took me into his house and you know, dumped me.  But, you know, mom and her boyfriend always did that sort of thing to me anyway.  So I didn’t see much different in it.  I mean, a lot of kids, they come out here and they think that life ends when they hit the streets.  But I didn’t really get that feeling because… I was too hollow to feel anything.”

Of foster youth feeling abandoned by the system:

“After fourteen foster homes I stopped counting.  My needs, as far as food – were not being met in the home, and, uh, a lot of abuse was happening in the home, and so I had to leave the home, and that led me into homelessness.  I slept on the streets for four and a half, five months.  And during that time, um, I was only lucky to have a couple of friends that let me couch surf.  Other than that, I was pretty much on the streets.”

Of youth kicked out of home because of their sexual orientation:

“I used to live in a parking lot. That was it, that was my home. I slept there, I ate there, I even used the bathroom there.  Yeah, its kinda gross, but when you’re put in certain predicaments, this is just what happens.

I’ve been homeless for 7 months.  I come from a strict Christian household, like – my mother is very, very religious. I don’t know what it is that makes me gay, I’m just… gay.  Lesbian, dyke, whatever you want to call it, I’m that. And, um, my mom doesn’t like it.  So she’s like: you know, if you’re gonna make that choice, you can’t stay here in my house.  And I’m like, well, I can’t be straight.  I mean, I tried – god knows I tried – but it just… didn’t work for me, so… I’m gay.

So I got kicked out of my house – I gotta stay wherever I can.

It’s very hard, finding something to do every day.  Keeping warm.  Eating, mostly, is hard. I’d like to wash my clothes.  Like, it’s the little things, that people take for granted…”

Of youth whose regrettable choices led them to the street:

“I was in a bad situation with some people.  I was SO stupid.  I didn’t want to go to school.  That was the only thing I knew, ya know, selling dope  and stealing and stuff like that.  I put it like this: if you’re in a situation where you really, you really don’t know what to do, you don’t have any guidance or stuff like that… see, me, I’m a really smart kid.  I’ve always been told that I’m smart.  Too smart.  And then I made the dumbest decisions, which I – I see that now.  I might do something, and not think about it, and then when I turn around, I see the trouble coming toward me, and I can’t run from it. I be like – dang, why I did that?  I did a lot of dumb stuff, and I ended up homeless.”

There are so many paths to youth homelessness: abandonment, abuse, poor decision-making, drugs, poverty, neglect, impulse, coercion.  But on the streets, the paths that brought them there converge: survival becomes more  important than anything else.  On the streets, the options our youth have to achieve stability are limited.  They need positive connections to caring adults, access to the resources that would stabilize their living situations, and support in maintaining that stability.  Most crucially, they need shelter.   Without shelter, warm clothing, good food, and hot showers, few can think beyond meeting those immediate needs.  Here in Fairbanks, we’re working to open a shelter.

The Door, emergency shelter for youth, will undergo renovation this winter/spring and is expected to be completed next summer.  We need a plan so that the homeless youth in the Fairbanks area have access to shelter this   winter.  Too many bitterly cold winters have passed by these youth.  If you would like to be part of a brainstorm session to plan alternative emergency shelter for this winter, please email us.