Growing Up Homeless

Harper Elder biked toward school, snow swirling around her. An icy wind stung the 16-year-old’s bare hands. Growing up near Salt Lake City, Utah, Elder was accustomed to fierce winters. But this year she wasn’t prepared. She had no gloves. No warm coat. And no place to call home.

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

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

A growing number of young people share Elder’s struggles as a teen. An estimated 700,000 Americans ages 13-17 are homeless and on their own each year, according to government data. (The number balloons to 4.2 million when people ages 18-25 are included.) These young people lack a stable place to live, and many don’t have family that supports them. They bounce between shelters, cars, and friends’ homes. Sometimes they have to sleep outside.

Harper Elder biked toward school. An icy wind stung the 16-year-old’s bare hands as snow swirled around her. Elder grew up near Salt Lake City, Utah. She was used to harsh winters. But this year she wasn’t prepared. She had no gloves or warm coat. And she had no place to call home.

It was early 2021. Elder had been crashing on her older sister’s couch. It was a 45-minute bike ride from school. Months earlier, years of fighting with her mother had reached a breaking point, Elder says. Her parents kicked her out. The first night, she had started walking to a friend’s house. Then she stopped because she did not want to ask for help.

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

A growing number of young people share Elder’s struggles as a teen. According to government data, an estimated 700,000 Americans ages 13-17 are homeless and on their own each year. (The number grows to 4.2 million when people ages 18-25 are included.) These young people lack a stable place to live.  Many don’t have family that supports them. They move between shelters, cars, and friends’ homes. Sometimes they sleep outside.

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

But for Elder and others, homelessness doesn’t need to be the end of their story, says Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national nonprofit working to overcome youth homelessness through education.

“These young people can and do succeed,” she says. “They often will say, ‘This is something that happened to me. This is not who I am.’ ”

Homelessness affects young people in every state. It is getting worse. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of public school students identified as unhoused (either on their own or with their families) more than doubled between the 2004-05 and 2022-23 school years.

But for Elder and others, homelessness doesn’t need to be the end of their story, says Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national nonprofit working to overcome youth homelessness through education.

“These young people can and do succeed,” she says. “They often will say, ‘This is something that happened to me. This is not who I am.’ ”

Last year, homelessness increased by 18 percent across the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Experts say a widespread lack of affordable housing is the biggest driver of the crisis, with other contributing factors including rising inflation and a shortage of support systems for people in distress.

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’re often fleeing abuse, neglect, domestic violence, or a parent’s addiction.

The crisis doesn’t affect everyone equally. Black, Hispanic/Latine, and Indigenous young people experience homelessness at higher rates than their White peers. LGBTQ+ youth are at more than double the risk than 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, never staying in one spot for long.

Giovanni Ayala of San Antonio, Texas, knows how difficult that can be. He ended up homeless at age 12, after an incident of gang violence led to his family getting evicted from their apartment. Ayala’s mom dropped him off at a friend’s house and then she disappeared.

Ayala began couch surfing, crashing with friends, family, and anyone else who would take him in. Over the course of six years, he stayed in 40 different places.

“I just couldn’t find a home,” Ayala, now 22, says. “It was just bad place to bad place, constantly trying to live through it.”

That stress is common. So are embarrassment and fear of being judged. Many young people hide their situation. They try to keep attending school while pretending everything’s fine around classmates and teachers.

“Anytime people did find out, it became like a joking type thing,” Ayala says, “so when they would make fun of me, I was like, ‘No, I definitely want to keep it a secret for the most part.’”

But hiding a secret like this isn’t easy. Unhoused teens are often hungry and exhausted, experts say, and 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.

Elder was determined to stay in school—even if it meant biking through blizzards while she lived with her sister. Later she found a secure place to stay with a family near her school.

“I was in survival mode,” she says. “I just did what I had to do.”

Ayala says keeping up with his education was difficult, but he managed to get good grades, play on the basketball team, and eventually graduate from high school. He was accepted into a few colleges, although he didn’t end up attending any of them.

“Not a lot of my family had graduated [high school], let alone got into college,” he says. “So I wanted to separate myself, even though I was going through all the stuff.”

Last year, homelessness increased by 18 percent across the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Experts say the lack of affordable housing is the biggest driver of the crisis. Other contributing factors include rising inflation and a shortage of support systems for people in distress.

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

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

The first challenge for homeless teens on their own is finding a safe place to stay. Many end up “couch surfing.” They move between temporary places and never stay in one spot for long.

Giovanni Ayala of San Antonio, Texas, knows how difficult that can be. He ended up homeless at age 12. After an incident of gang violence, his family got evicted from their apartment. Ayala’s mom dropped him off at a friend’s house. Then she disappeared.

Ayala began couch surfing, staying with friends, family, and anyone else who would take him in. Over six years, he stayed in 40 different places.

“I just couldn’t find a home,” Ayala, now 22, says. “It was just bad place to bad place, constantly trying to live through it.”

That stress is common. So are embarrassment and fear of being judged. Many young people hide their situation. They try to keep attending school. They pretend everything’s fine around classmates and teachers.

“Anytime people did find out, it became like a joking type thing,” Ayala says, “so when they would make fun of me, I was like, ‘No, I definitely want to keep it a secret for the most part.’”

But hiding a secret like this isn’t easy. Experts say unhoused teens are often hungry and exhausted. They may struggle to focus.

They also may not have access to resources, like a quiet place to study. Over time, these challenges have consequences. Data shows unhoused students drop out of school at much higher rates, which can make it difficult to find a job later.

Elder was determined to stay in school—even if it meant biking through blizzards while she lived with her sister. Finally, she found a safe place to stay with a family near her school.

“I was in survival mode,” she says. “I just did what I had to do.”

Ayala says keeping up with school was difficult. He managed to get good grades, play on the basketball team, and eventually graduated from high school. He was accepted into a few colleges, but he ended up not attending any of them.

“Not a lot of my family had graduated [high school], let alone got into college,” he says. “So I wanted to separate myself, even though I was going through all the stuff.”

For many teens, the solution starts with asking for help. Telling a teacher at school, for example, can jump-start support. Ayala’s teachers gave him food, shoes, and other supplies. And federal law requires school districts to identify unhoused students because they’re entitled to special services, including transportation to school.

Many cities have shelters where people experiencing homelessness can sleep, eat meals, and get medical help—but most of those places cater to adults, not teens. Shelters specifically for unhoused youth do exist, but they aren’t as common. Those facilities often have special resources like homework help and career prep. They’re also more likely to offer the emotional support teens need.

“There’s a real shortage of beds specifically designed for young people,” says Leslie McGuire of Covenant House, which has shelters for unhoused young people in 26 U.S. cities. “The adult system is more about meeting basic human needs rather than overcoming homelessness.”

For many teens, the solution starts with asking for help. Telling a teacher at school, for example, can lead to support. Ayala’s teachers gave him food, shoes, and other supplies. Federal law requires school districts to identify unhoused students because they’re entitled to special services, including transportation to school.

Many cities have shelters where people experiencing homelessness can sleep, eat meals, and get medical help. However, most of those places are for adults, not teens. Shelters specifically for unhoused youth do exist. They aren’t as common. Often they have special resources like homework help and career prep. Youth shelters are also more likely to offer the emotional support teens need.

“There’s a real shortage of beds specifically designed for young people,” says Leslie McGuire of Covenant House, which has shelters for unhoused young people in 26 U.S. cities. “The adult system is more about meeting basic human needs rather than overcoming homelessness.”

In addition to creating more youth-specific shelters, advocates say schools and aid groups need more resources to help them identify struggling young people. 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.

Prevention is key to ending the crisis too. Experts say what will help is creating and expanding services like mental health care, job training, and affordable housing programs to stop teen homelessness before it starts.

Advocates say schools and aid groups need more resources to help them identify struggling young people. In addition, more youth-specific shelters are needed. 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.

Prevention is key to ending the crisis too. Experts say what will help is creating and expanding services like mental health care, job training, and affordable housing programs. These resources could help to stop teen homelessness before it starts.

No longer homeless, Elder wants to be part of that solution. She tells her story to raise awareness and 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, Elder says focusing on school—as well as creative outlets, like writing and dancing—propelled her forward. Through SchoolHouse Connection, Elder earned a scholarship to a Utah college. 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.

Ayala also found some stability after graduating from high school. He now shares a house and he’s working a retail job that will pay for his education. He plans to start taking college courses soon.

Looking back, Elder 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.

No longer homeless, Elder wants to be part of that solution. She tells her story to raise awareness. She has even 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.”

Elder says focusing on school—as well as creative outlets, like writing and dancing—is what helped her move forward. Through SchoolHouse Connection, Elder earned a scholarship to a Utah college. 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.

Ayala also found some stability after graduating from high school. He now shares a house. His retail job will pay for his education, so he plans to start taking college courses soon.

Looking back, Elder advises teens experiencing homelessness to do what she didn’t on that first night. 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. 

With reporting by Chrisanne Grisé.

With reporting by Chrisanne Grisé.