New education programs guide homeless youths

Lorenzo Rowell spent the early part of his 20s living at a homeless shelter. He now lives in a college dorm.

Now in his second semester at Chicago State University, the 22-year-old is working to get a degree that will allow him to get a good job.

Rowell is like many youths struggling with homelessness who see education as a way out of their current circumstances.

"Education is really the key in terms of helping people break out of poverty," said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C., "and I think young people instinctively know that."

Rowell, at 14, moved in with his grandmother after running away from his third foster home.

"I was in school when I was in group homes and in foster homes," Rowell said. But while he was living with his grandmother, as well as his uncle, aunt and other family members, Rowell said he stopped going to school.

At 20 his grandmother told him to get a job.

He quickly found out that without a high school education, he couldn't find one.

"That was the whole reason behind going to get my GED," Rowell said. "I decided I'm going to college."

At 21, Rowell's grandmother got sick. He stopped going to school so he could take care of her. After her death, he lived with his aunt, uncle and two cousins.

Then his uncle died. His aunt was moving to a smaller apartment with his cousins and Rowell said she didn't really have room for him.

So Rowell moved into a shelter. He was staying at the Open Door Youth Shelter run by The Night Ministry. There he met Anne Holcomb, co-founder of a group called HELLO: Homeless Experts Living Life's Obstacles.

While staying at the shelter, Rowell kept attending classes and got his GED. But getting to college was still a challenge. "I didn't really have anyone to help me get in, except for Anne," Rowell said.

Rowell's problem is common to many homeless youth in Chicago and throughout America.

According to Stoops, very few programs in the country are targeted toward homeless young adults. "There needs to be advocacy groups set up for that young adult population and they also need to involve that young adult population, helping them develop into leaders," he said.

That's where programs like HELLO come in. Less of an organization and more of a discussion group, HELLO meets once a week at the Broadway Youth Center and is backed by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and the Night Ministry.

"It's kind of a venue where [homeless youth between 16 and 24] can come; they can discuss openly the things that are going on in their life," said Beth Cunningham, a lawyer with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and co-facilitator of the group.

Right now, Cunningham said the discussions tend to be about local and national politics and how what's going on might affect the youths' circumstances.

A few weeks ago, the group put on an art show.

They also traveled to Springfield to lobby for "No Youth Alone," an Illinois House bill that aims to increase funding for homeless youth by $7 million: 5$ million for housing and $2 million to help with transitional jobs.

But the group is very fluid. "There's about 10 to 15 kids who come every week," she said. Some come consistently while others come and go.

The attendees aren't asked for their real names and all participation is optional.

Still, Cunningham said: "They really do have a sense of community. They're really supportive of each other. There's a lot of really close friends that are involved in the HELLO group."

Rowell's roommate at Chicago State was also part of HELLO and has also faced homelessness.

Members of the group come from all over the city, but there's a high concentration who hail from the North Side - areas like Lakeview and Uptown.

"Most of the youth involved in HELLO are unaccompanied, so they're not living with their families," Cunningham said. She added that, "There's a significant number of unaccompanied youth that are [lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender]."

Conflicts over sexual identity can be a reason youth are forced out of their homes.

Barbara Duffield, policy director at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, said, "[These are] youths who have no other choices. They were either abused or neglected or [there was] serious conflict at home and they perceive leaving home to be safer than staying at home," Duffield said.