On Communicating and Collaborating

Final Course Reflection

My writing and researching process this semester has been very enlightening, and a bit therapeutic. I selected the issue of youth homelessness because it is something I have experienced in my life. I do not think enough people are aware of just how bad this problem is and I think it is frequently overlooked.

My perspective didn’t change on the issue over the course of the semester rather it changed for myself. In doing the research I did I was actually able to feel a lot better about my past than I had previously. The more I learned the more I wanted to know. The more awareness I wanted to bring.

I think the source that impacted me the most was my source for my profile. I interviewed a friend I knew back in Jr. High who was a homeless LGBT teen at one point. I thought I had known his story but it turns out I didn’t even know the half of it and I used to see and hang out with him almost daily.

For my magazine projects I chose to revise my memoir over my profile because I felt that my memoir was a better fit for the rhetorical setting. I felt that by sharing my very personal story and my triumph over my past that I could better draw the reader into the world of a homeless youth. Since this is my personal experience and the reader can see from my work, and ePortfolio that I have overcome great obstacles in my life; they will see, not every child of the streets is worthless and undeserving.

When I chose to write my position argument I was undecided at first. As I began writing I realized that I would be more effective writing a position over a proposal and as I wrote my paper began to take shape. I wrote a report over a review because other than there are not enough resources available I really didn’t have anything to review so that choice was pretty easy to make.

I feel that I made effective use of genre and chose mediums that worked well with what I was creating and even work well with the group magazine. I had to make some adjustments but I feel I did well overall. I was able to use some of my pieces for another class, what I used was over all effective with the audience I presented my work to. They were very impressed with my story, as well as informed, this was my goal for each of these pieces.

For each piece I wrote I wrote it as an opportunity to bring awareness. Each of us came into the Magazine Project with this goal in mind. When I revised my flash memoir and wrote it as a monologue/journal entry I wrote it as present tense as if it was someone reading my journal as I was living it. As it was happening in this moment. I wanted the reader to get inside my head and feel what I’m feeling, see what I’m seeing. I believe I achieved Kairos but only time will tell. I do feel that right now with the weather turning colder, and a new youth shelter being built; I created the perfect opportunity for awareness.

The process for creating my translation/adaptation part of the Magazine Project was a difficult one at first. I tried to adapt my report in several different ways. I tried to create an online flipbook, an online book, a PDF. Overall I spent about a week and a half just adapting this project. Most of that was spent trying to work out how to add the audio to the PowerPoint so that when I turned it into a video slideshow it wouldn’t sound horrible.

I needed to make sure that it would still be interesting and informative but not too long or too short. I finally after a lot of tinkering with it got the audio I wanted added to all of the slides and then converted it into a YouTube video. It was a very frustrating process to say the least. There were times I just wanted to throw my computer because I thought I’d have it only to find out it wasn’t even close.

As I as adapting my report into the video I learned that I need to put more emotional appeal into it. My son had agreed to let me take pictures of him holding a few signs. This got me thinking. I had known lots of people back when I was dealing with homelessness and I loved taking pictures. I dug out a few boxes and found pictures of people I used to know some homeless some not and I included them. I wanted the viewer to see that you can’t always tell the difference between a homeless teen and one with a home.

This whole project brought up a lot of memories, and my kids have been watching me through this whole process and learning a lot about my life that I hadn’t disclosed much about. My husband has watched me through this process is just fascinated. I think my children have a new appreciation for what they have and my husband sees me and stronger than he’d previously given me credit for. It has been a very humbling, healing, and enlightening experience.

My job within the group was visual editor. The group collaborative effort as far and revision and design was overwhelmingly helpful. It was nice to have help revising and someone to catch the things I’d missed while writing. I hope that I was helpful in the visual aspect of things within my group but I felt like they were giving me more proofreading advice than I was giving. Everyone that hears my story is more or less dumbfounded by me. I think, (I hope) I put things into perspective for my group, which is things are not always as they seem. This was helpful because that is kind of what our magazine is, things unseen, under the radar, “The Ugly Underneath”. We all had issues that are highly overlooked by society.

I designed and created the website for our groups Magazine “The Ugly Underneath,” I learned a lot doing it and it’s been frustrating, but fun. Thanks to Myspace I know enough about coding to get me by and fix the orientation of some things and how to embed things and adjust code accordingly. Our group kept in pretty close contact through our group discussion and texts. It has been a good group and I feel we have worked together very effectively. We are all moms and lead pretty busy lives but we have been able to work together well and get things done in a timely manner.

Each week I was required to write a notebook entry that tied into my

social justice issue.

They can be found below.

 

Notebook 1

5g. Write an introduction to an essay, titled "On_________." Fill in the blank with a one or two word description of your issue, or something related to your issue. Use the title as a way to explore the points/ideas/questions that you would like to write about in one of your pieces for the semester. Examples: why is ________ and issue ? What does it mean to be a part of _______? Assumptions people make about ___________ are ______________?

 

On Teen Homeless

 

What is it like to be homeless under 18. You ran away from home now what? What if going home is not an option where do you go? What do you do? Where do you turn? Are you destined to live life on the streets? Children under the age of 18 regardless of where they are from or why they left home are not allowed to stay at a traditional homeless shelter without a parent with them. Up until recently there were no resources available to kids of the street. Why is this an issue? What does it mean to be a child of the streets? Assumptions people make about homeless teens and their situation are what? Most people would not realize that homeless teens in Utah is an issue which is exactly why it is one. Teens that are living on the street are largely on their own, having left home for a variety of reasons they are left to beg for food, dumpster dive or just plain starve. While the teens that can go home eventually do there are those that can’t and what happens to them? Sure, you might think well its their own fault they ran away from their foster family. What if the only way to protect your younger sibling and stay with them was to run? What if your only hope at safety was to run? Would you be willing to endure the cold winters of Salt Lake City, the unforgiving streets full of junkies and hunger just to survive? Most of us wouldn’t but then again most of us have never been there.

Notebook 3

3a. Tell the story of your research. What turns did it take? What were your missed opportunities and what were your unexpected scores?

            This has been an interesting journey into researching my social justice issue. The topic I chose is youth homelessness. The turns my research has taken have tremendously opened my eyes. While there are a lot more resources than there were when I was a homeless youth they’re still are not enough. I have learned so much just in the short time I’ve been researching this subject. I have learned startling statistics that shocked me. It made me cry. The most unexpected turn came from a question posed to a friend I knew back in Jr. High who experienced severe neglect and abuse at home. He felt that the streets were safer for him than being at home. Back then I felt that I had known this guy pretty well and thought I knew his story but I had no idea that any of this had gone on. I am realizing that most people have no idea the stories behind homeless youth. I have seen images from google image search that say things like if this was a homeless youth most people wouldn’t bother to look down. He put it to me in the most perfect words. We need to stop asking youth where they come from and start asking how we can help.

            As far as missed opportunities I think that I am missing a bigger picture focusing locally on this issue but it is an issue that local awareness is key. Nationally as of 2002 according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, there were considered to be around 1,682,900 homeless and runaway youth. While this is national it shows how big of a problem this really is. The unexpected scores came when my friend told me to look into the downtown city library going to 24/7 hours. I couldn’t believe the eagerness and willingness to open this up to youth in Salt Lake but of course I comes down to politics allowing it to happen. I was also surprised to learn through my research that Utah law states that a child under the age of 18 is not allowed to be away from their parents for more than 48 hours which is why there is no formal shelter for the kids. This also why they are not permitted to sleep at the already established homeless shelters I was also alarmed at the numbers I read about how many kids are abused on the streets. The most unexpected thing I heard was the statement “being abused by a stranger felt less personal.” It was heart wrenching and I could not hold back the tears. It was almost as sad to hear that many of these kids turn to drugs to cope with the abuse they left home to escape. Just to be abused further by people claiming help them. I realize this is his story, but it is not just his it is the story of so many others. They deserve to be heard they deserve to know that there is humanity left in this world.  I knew that this would be a heartbreaking subject especially now that I am a mother and have dealt with my own past issues of homelessness and abuse. I never could have imagined it would be this eye opening or gut wrenching.  Instead of asking these "children of the streets" where did you come from, we need to be asking what do you need to move forward? How can I assist you? I cannot wait to dive further into this project and hope that my research can bring to light this issue and make even just a few more people aware of it in the process. After all one can do a lot. Sometimes all it takes is a smile and a hello to let them know they are not invisible. They are seen. They are heard.

Notebook 4

3b. Tell someone about your writing project. Or: imagine telling someone about your writing project. What are the most important parts of it? What order would you tell it in? What parts of your writing project would you leave out in this telling? Why?

            I am researching teen homelessness in Salt Lake City. To me the most important parts of this issue is how people view homeless teens, most of them are on the street due to abuse even lack of parenting. They are viewed as unworthy because they are homeless, viewed as hopeless and lost causes. The order I would tell this story is begin with my own story, I have experienced homelessness many times throughout my life as a teen, young adult and as an adult as well. I broke my cycle but not all are so lucky. From there I share my friend’s story, I find his story very sobering. The two stories compare and contrast well and tie into the issue at hand. Next I will explain what resources there are to homeless teens in the valley which are slim to none. There are a few upwards of Ogden to Logan but a lot of kids leave Utah because other states have better and more resources than Salt Lake does. I will leave out the experiences I have with a few homeless youth, one because he chooses to for whatever reason live on the street and chose to travel the country by train as a homeless teen and has for now settled into somewhere in California. Although if I knew how to get ahold of him I would ask him what he has learned, what does he think could be done better but unfortunaly I do not know where or how to find him. This is a rarity in the case of homeless teens most do not choose to live on the street. The other two homeless teens I have experienced are or at least were on the streets because of their parents being drug addicts, they had lived most of their life on the street and chose to stay there in order to stay together. I do not know much of their story just what they chose to divulge to me before my biological mother kicked them out. This may or may not change as I am telling my story. What I will leave out without a doubt is how emotionally attached to this I am. More so than I ever expected. This project is bringing up past demons for me and has been very difficult to handle on an emotional level. It is making me realize that I had not “dealt” with my past quite as well as I had hoped I had. This is also why I am telling this story, it is one that needs to be told. People deserve to know that these kids just need a chance, they need someone to tell their story and feel like someone cares.

NOTEBOOK 6

 

6h. Write a 300-word satirical “This I Don’t

Believe” essay in which you take on the persona of an opponent to your position

on your issue or a stakeholder that sees only the limitations of your proposal.

Model the essay after NPR’s “This I Believe” guidelines. Check out The Onion

for example satires. Note: The Onion often uses adult humor and language.

 

 

This I Don’t Believe I don’t believe that homeless youth need our help. They choose to live on the

street. These teen/youth left home; they call it abuse I call it good

parenting. So what if mom or dad doesn’t think they should be gay, that they

need to just suck it up and be straight. It seems pretty simple to me. Why

would tax payers give money to these youth to build a shelter? They have

friends don’t’ they? They can go to school to be fed, there are places downtown

that feed them and give them a place to shower that’s all they need. Teach

these kids some “tough love”. Why would we ever build them an overnight shelter

so they can have sex and get pregnant and blame the state? These youth are all on drugs just

like the rest of the homeless population if we help them they will just grow even

more dependent than the adults do. They lie, cheat, steal. Why are we going to

just give them a free ride so they can abuse the system? Abused in adult

shelters you say, I call rubbish. These youth are manipulative, drug addicted,

free loaders looking for a handout. They just want a free ride, if we’re going

to use money to support them, send them to a country where kids have nothing

let them see what it’s really like! Like I said they are just looking for a hand out, they don’t really need

help. They can get everything they need just fine. They do not need public help

and public funds to survive. They are surviving just fine standing on street

corners making more money than the average person. Absolute rubbish they need

our help. Do you ever wonder why they’re so invisible? It’s because they’re not

really there!

NOTEBOOK 7

6k. Write a monologue about your social justice issue. The speaker can be you or someone associated with your issue. For an example of a social justice issue monologue, read an excerpt from the Vagina Monologues: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/ensler/vm/excerpt.html

             They call me Tammy that is not really my name but I don’t care. It helps me stay invisible if they do not know my name. Its cold today, I think it may snow. I have nowhere to go. I don’t really miss home it was hell there. My step dad hates me and mom doesn’t care. No one cares… Not really. People are evil creatures.

            When they look at me they just see though me, they don’t really look at me. Why would they I’m only 15 too young to get a job, too old for anyone to really care. I left home a year ago and I’ve survived this long someday it will be ok… I hope…

            I’ll never forget that first night; it was just after Thanksgiving.  I was trying to help feed my baby brother when he threw his plate across the table. Mom was at work; my step dad put me up against the wall and started punching me, then he dragged me into the bedroom by my hair and raped me. This wasn’t the first time but it was damn sure the last. Even if it kills me. I ran.

            I remember running, I had no idea where I was going. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get away from him. Running until my legs could no longer carry me. I collapsed in an alley somewhere at the other end of town. How long had I been running? I had no idea. I had no idea where I was. The sun had gone down hours ago, it began to snow. I only had a sweatshirt and my jeans on. Thank god I had my shoes on when I ran. I didn’t even think. My legs just carried me and I followed. I was hungry I ran before I got to eat dinner. I didn’t want to eat anything out of the dumpster how disgusting is that!

 Eventually you get hungry enough you don’t care. People throw out a lot of food, if they only knew.  Looks like some meatloaf tonight. It doesn’t smell too bad, it doesn’t taste bad I’ve had better but who knows when I’ll get to eat again.

            Now here I am, I’ve made a few friends out here, we look out for each other. If the cops find us they take us away and call our parents. They just don’t understand, I can’t go home I’ll die first before I ever let them take me back. I tried to tell my mom what my step dad was doing and she didn’t believe me. She told me I was making up stories because I didn’t like him; that he would never. So I sit here under the moon wishing for a better life. Moon watch over Thomas will you? I am so whishing something in this crazy life could make sense. UGH Its so frustrating!

            Someone told me they are trying to open the library at night for us but we all know it will never happen. Yes we lie and steal but they just don’t understand. It’s the only way we can survive out here. Sometimes there is nothing in the garbage to eat. Sometimes, just sometimes someone looks our way. They scurry like mice away from us like we have some kind of disease they can catch by looking at us.

            They don’t understand, them in their nice houses, with their nice cars, food to eat. Heat and beds and blankets well screw them! I don’t care! It’s safer here anyway. I once tried to go to a place downtown that helps kids like me gives them a place to sleep, the assholes tried to rape me. I will never go back. People can’t be trusted. They are mean and horrible.

            The only ones I can trust are the ones that I sleep with at night to stay warm. My new family. We all have a story but no one talks about what happened before. We all know it bad or we wouldn’t be here together. They are the only ones I can trust.

            A few of my friends want to hop a train and go somewhere else. Live free they say. We can just go train hopping around the country, it’ll be fun they say. Yeah right, I don’t know about that but what have I really got to lose? Not like there’s anything for me here anyway. Sure why not let’s do it. I just hope my baby brother is ok, he should be safe.  Frank would never hurt his beloved son… I hope…

            We wait for the sun to go down, someone has been watching the trains to make sure we can jump in before anyone see us. We make it, maybe I can make a life for myself somewhere else, away from this hell. I think I like the name Tammy. I think I’ll keep it wherever this new place we’re going is. I watch my hometown drift into the shadows as the train moves on. I feel the safest I’ve felt in years and I drift off to sleep.

 

Notebook 8

3e. Write a two-page flash fiction story about at least two characters affected by your real world social justice issue. While the characters should be fictional, the conditions that they face/experiences that they have should be based on the facts surrounding the issue.

 

Life of the American Teen on the Street

 

            I remember running, I had no idea where I was going. I just needed to get away before they caught up to me. I couldn’t go home, I had disappointed everyone, I left my ex long ago and she’d had our son while I was away, she hates me now. She doesn’t understand, none of them do.

            My step-dad hates me, he doesn’t want any of us kids around, he is afraid we will molest my little brother. My older brother has been on the streets a while too. My mom tries to help us but my step dad flips out on here every time she does. Tom my older brother just went to jail. He is gay, our cousin said he thought he was gay and Tom thought he’d “give him a few pointers”. We’re damaged goods him and I. Years of abuse at the hand of our father when we were younger. Mom seems to be the only one that understands but she can’t help us. Not now.

            Now I’m alone, I don’t know what I’m going to do without Tom, together we were safe we could figure it out. Tom had to go and get all addicted to crack, had to make stupid decisions and get himself locked up. I’m hungry but I’m too afraid to go to the day center. They say they’ll help but I’m not sure. I don’t trust anyone.

            I just want a way to get out of here. I miss my son dearly he is a year now, it’s been 18 months since Tom and I left. I can’t go back, I am afraid that I am not any better than my brother, than my dad. My son is better off without me in his life. I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t want him to deal with what I’ve been though, it’s in my blood. I can’t help it. It’s safer for him without me around.

                                                ***********************************

            “What the hell were you thinking?”- yells my mother

            “He’s only 14! Your 18!”

            “I know mom I…I…I just don’t know… I wasn’t”

            Luke is out there without me, why, why did I do something so stupid. I was just trying to help and now my little brother is out there alone, and I’m stuck in here. In county for who knows how long. Mom says she’ll help but I know she can’t do much, her husband hates us. He thinks… no he knows, Luke and I are damaged goods. There is no hope for us. We’re hopeless. I hope he’s ok. It’s not great in here but at least I got three hots n a cot. I laugh to myself. Poor Luke, he’s stronger than I am he’ll be ok… I hope…

                                    ************************************************************

 

 

            It’s been a month since I lost Tom. The cops came out of nowhere I didn’t stick around to find out what was going on I just ran. I don’t even know what he got arrested for, he didn’t look surprised. He probably knows, he talks to mom more than I do, she probably told him they were coming. I’ve spent the last month out here. Wandering from here to there, sometimes I sleep at the park. I don’t like it there, there are lots of people all high out of their minds on various random things. It’s not really all that safe there, there are a lot of drug deals that go down. People get stabbed over stupid things, it’s scary.

            Word out here is my mom’s been driving around looking for me, Tom must have told her my street name. A few people told me she came by looking for me yesterday, said she was looking for Smurf, I have a few different names I don’t stay in one place too long, that how you get caught.

            It’s getting cold, I do wish I had some warmer shoes to wear, maybe a coat. All I’ve got is this ratty old sweatshirt. Oh well, man I’m hungry, there hasn’t been anything in the dumpster for days everyone gets to it before I can. Tom always made sure we had something to eat, I don’t know how he did it but I do miss him.

            I got a message from mom today, Tom is in jail for a minimum of 6 months and to come home for a meal. She doesn’t understand I know she means well but my step dad hates me, he’ll beat the hell outta me if I even think of showing up, her too. It’s just not worth it. I lay under a tree watching the clouds float over the moon, it’s full tonight. It’s getting colder. I drift off to sleep thinking of my family, my son, my brother. Sometimes I wish I could just go to sleep for good.

            I went to the day center today; I was starving, I needed to eat. They asked me a lot of questions, they tell me they want to help. I am not sure I can trust them.  I eat some lunch; I consider sticking around for dinner. Tom always told me not to trust anyone to stay under the radar but I’m getting desperate, I don’t know when or even if I will see him again. I try to stay close to the center but scarce enough they don’t ask too many questions. I have no idea how long it will be before I can eat again.

            I am dazed, daydreaming of better times, I know it is dangerous; right now I just don’t care anymore. A girl walks past me and trips over my shoe. I come out of my daze right as she lands face down in the grass; luckily she catches herself so she doesn’t completely face plant. I help her up.

            “I’m so sorry are you ok?”

She looks up at my hesitant to take my hand, “yeah I think I’m alright sorry about that I’m a bit of a klutz.”

We both laugh and for a short moment the world stops, we are like small children giggling in the sunshine on a fall day carefree and safe.

She quickly takes back her hand from mine, without Tom it’s been so lonely, I haven’t had anyone to talk to in so long I have lost track. I ask her name.

“They call me Tammy” she responds.

My name’s Luke but out here they call me Smurf among other things but you can call me whatever.

Tammy is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, being with her makes everything seem brighter, like there could possibly be hope.

Tammy and I spend the next few months looking out for each other, we both make a few friends, and there are 5 of us total. That’s a big group to keep hidden in the shadows, but we make it work. We each take turns looking out for each other. We also take turns stealing food or anything we can trade. It’s not the best life in the world but we could have it worse. We could be in jail like Tom, or addicted to drugs like so many we have lost along the way.

A few of us want to hop a train and get out of here, my mom has been looking for me a lot lately, and so has my ex. Why won’t they just leave me alone, they don’t understand? I tried to go home. I tried to go back it’s just not safe, no for me, not for my son. He’s safer without me in his life. I need to get out of here.            

So it’s decided Joe, Keegan, and I are going now we just have to ask Tammy if she wants to come and Tara. We’re leaving tonight, Keegan and I have been watching the trains this past week to see if we’ll be able to make it out of here.

We’re going to head west first if things work out. Tammy says she’s coming Tara said no. We wait till the moon comes out and the city quiets down, the train is coming, we make a run for it and we miss it. Great now what? Joe says I’ve been watching the east bound trains I hadn’t made up my mind I’ve always wanted to see the east coast and anywhere is better than here. The next one will be coming shortly we could hop on and go. I look at Tammy who takes my hand and smiles, why not she says. We manage to catch the eastbound train when it comes.

Tammy drifts off to sleep I just sit and think about how long it’s been since I’ve had a real home cooked meal. When is the last time I saw Tom? My little brother? My son no don’t think about him things will be ok. My stomach grumbles and I close my eyes trying to ignore it. I don’t want to think about that now. For now I’m the safest I’ve been in I can’t even remember how long… for now… I will sleep.

NOTEBOOK 10

6c. Write or create a PSA on for your issue in which you explain the causes and effects of a problem associated with your issue. Explain what should be done to address the problem.

    

 

     Parents… Are you tired of your teen not listening? Are you at your wits end? Afraid someone will notice the bruises your child goes to school with? Tough Love…kicking your child out of the house until they learn some respect… sound familiar?

 

     THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER! Many parents think that if they kick their child out, or let them leave without knowing when or if they’re coming home, that they will somehow become un-gay, or un-transgender, un-LGBT, they will learn respect, they will toughen up and become “better” children. This is all an illusion… they become children of the streets…and the streets is no place for a child…

    

Becoming a child of the street can cause some or all, but not  limited to the following side effects; Sex trafficking, sexual abuse, manipulation, abuse, exposure to extreme elements, loneliness, fear, drug addictions, starvation, even death.

    

These are not rare cases, 13 children will die today on the street. These are not limited to just the children that grew up in broken homes or foster care, some are good kids that come from good homes. Why does it matter where they came from they’re all someone’s children; some forgotten, some too scared to ask for help. This could be your child, your daughter that you just threw out could become a victim of sex trafficking or worse. Your son who may have never done drugs in his life that just wants someone to care about him may become a heroin addict. Love your children, even when you can’t stand them, even when you do not like their choices. Never feed them to the wolves waiting just down your street…

 

Help a forgotten child of the streets by donating to VOA Utah today to help build a shelter and bring them out of the cold… Stop the wolves, stop the madness…

6f. Return to an essay you have written. Revise the essay, making some kind of major adjustment—reworking your thesis, starting with the conclusion, changing the narration (in the memoir or profile), cutting it by a third, etc. Or translate it into a PSA, audio essay, video essay, graphic/hypertext

 

I have chosen to add pictures to my position argument, the pictures however I cannot get to paste here so instead I have added hyperlinks to some of the pictures I've used and others that I found fit in with what I was writing about.

 

Why Does Nobody Give a Damn?

            Imagine yourself in a park, see the slides, the swings, the grass, maybe some benches. Hear kids playing and laughing. Now, look up at the blue sky and sunshine, it’s a chilly day but everyone is bundled up and warm. Happy, safe…

            Now see this same park darkness has enveloped this once happy place just a few hours earlier, everyone has gone home, the frost is beginning to set in. Are you dressed for a night in the park? Now, picture yourself as a 13 year old girl with bare minimal clothing, you might have a light coat, if you’re lucky two pairs of socks, maybe some gloves to keep your hands warm. Now, suppose you must curl up in the slide, and struggle to stay warm.

            Keep this mental picture going and now hear your stomach growl because you haven’t had anything to eat for 3 days. You’re starving, you’re frozen, and you’re scared out of your wits. The moonlight shines faintly off the falling snow. If anyone sees you they are going to call the police and you’ll be arrested for running away.

            You’re only hope for food is to either, go to the day center and hope they have food otherwise you’ll have to steal from a store. Only one problem, the day center is closed it’s late at night and it’s a holiday weekend. The only thing open is grocery stores and gas stations. Your stomach aches to the point of agony. You want to cry and scream but you stifle it; you know it is pointless and will only draw unwanted attention.

            You just need to make it through for one more week and you can go back to school. You will have a warm place to go during the day and food to eat. You’re too ashamed and afraid to tell your teachers or your friends that you sleep where ever you can find a place out of the freezing temperatures. Your mom and dad were supposed to love you no matter what right?

            This may sound like something out of a fictional story but this is sadly the story of many youth across the nation. Invisible youth that for one reason or another have nowhere to call home. Unable to ask for help because they will be labeled as criminals. Left to their own devises, cold, hungry, and vulnerable. According to a report titled Alone Without a Home: A State-By-State Review of Laws Affecting Unaccompanied Youth written by The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty “it is estimated that each year 1.6 million children and youth (age 12-17) experience homelessness without a parent or guardian”. This is an astounding statistic.

Society has deemed homelessness a nuisance that should be shipped somewhere else, just take a look at the Magna Township Facebook page and see what is said about the homeless population in one small Salt Lake City Township. Comments such as send the away, lock them up, this is just one small town but they are not the only ones that feel this way. Just one problem, unless you have ties to this small town of Magna you cannot view the posts made by its residence, I know this because I am one of them.

Unfortunately unaccompanied youth often fall into this same category, they are classified as ungovernable, troublemakers, and thieves to name just a few and held in a negative light because they are homeless.

Locally here in Salt Lake lacks resources to help homeless youth. There is a day drop in center that offers some but because of Utah State Laws and liabilities not much can be done. In the state of Utah youth are no longer considered minors after the age of 18 unless the court has ordered them to be overseen by the Division of Child and Family Services (or DCFS). (NLCHP 2012)

In Utah the term Homeless has no specific definition, but could be classified as a dependent child. A dependent child is a child who is homeless or without proper care through no fault of a guardian. Utah Code Ann. § 62A-4a-101 (2010).  A runaway is classified as a minor that has left home without the permission of a parent or guardian.

The laws do not take into account why the youth ran from home in the first place. If a minor is taken into custody and can be without a warrant mind you; Utah code states that the minor’s parents must be immediately notified and then released to the care and custody of said parents/guardian. This puts youth back in the hands of the abuser if that is the reason they left home in the first place. The very laws set up to protect are the most unforgiving and dangerous. . The only way to fix this is to fix the laws. To shed light on why these youth are homeless in the first place. To stop criminalizing them, because they just want to be safe.

 These already vulnerable youth are now at risk of more, and in some cases even more severe abuse. Even if police suspect abuse they have to go through a process of obtaining a court order, and investigation and then they are placed into foster care. These youth already do not trust adults, they will run from foster homes just as quickly in fear of further abuse and mistreatment. What happens when they age out of the system with no support or knowledge of resources? They are still at risk for homelessness.

 Utah law is set up for homeless youth to fail, be labeled as criminals, and receive the stigma attached to such labels. How fairly will they be treated with a criminal record for truancy and running away or worse they are on probation for such things? This brings me to the next part of the Utah code, if these youth cannot be put into foster homes, or sent home, they are sent away to group homes, forestry camps, or a similar work facility. (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty)

This in its self is disturbing, if a child runs away from home because of abuse this puts them back into the hands of the abuser. If they are lucky like I was the abuse stops there, because the parent is too afraid of legal consequences; but many are not so lucky. “The opportunity for positive change lies in addressing these issues in federal and state law, along with the persuasive guidance of government regulation, coupled with state and local policy and practice. Appleseed believes that these vulnerable youth will be safer and more stable if we transform laws, regulations and policies to be more targeted.”

While I will not bore you with all the statistics and Utah codes. I do wish however that more people had empathy for these youth. The codes stated above is the largest reason homeless youth go unnoticed and do their best to be invisible because most fear going home, or worse they fear being arrested for surviving.

Think back to the beginning when you visualized yourself in the shoes of an invisible youth. Did you feel secure? Youth spend time couch surfing if they are able, going from relative to relative, friend to friend. Take Malachi Armstrong for instance, he is a young man featured in a story of youth homelessness titled I’ve been HOMELESS for Six Years. Young Malachi became homeless at the age of 16 when his grandmother kicked him out for being alone with a girl. Malachi states that “For almost two years he hopped from couch to couch at time staying with friends whose homes were so dirty he didn’t dare take a shower.” This boy tried to hide the fact that he was homeless by telling his friends that he was out partying all night and his teachers that he didn’t get much sleep when he was falling asleep in class. (Potenza)

Some may have the solution to give them a job application, or they may think “just get off your butt and suck it up. It can’t really be that bad at home can it?” Some can’t go home because a family member is sexually abusing them, or someone is beating them up; some just have no home to go home to for one reason or another, they were kicked out, they don’t have family whatever the reason. Some are even trading sex just to get food to eat or a place to sleep for the night. However you spin it these youth need our help.

Like I said I was lucky; the abuse stopped after I was taken home from youth services, it didn’t last long though. I was thrown out two years later allowed to take nothing but my clothes; I was sent to live with my biological mother who told me I didn’t have to go to school because she didn’t want to drive me to registration. I spent many years after that going from place to place, friend to friend until eventually 10 years later entered into an adult homeless shelter with 4 children. I had been in two abusive relationships looking for the acceptance I yearned for, someone to give a shit. I was widowed with 4 kids and no job, no house, nothing. If you can call that lucky.

I will not lie to you and say that I never stole to eat, I never got addicted to drugs or that I was not a victim of the streets and the horrors they behold. I have dealt with and done things I wish I could say I hadn’t but I did what I felt I had to survive as do so many.

In conclusion I just want to say that I somehow beat the odds; but not before facing years of adversity and people who looked down on me because I’d been raised in a “good neighborhood”. To them I’d thrown it all away. Armed with nothing; no knowledge of the resources that were available when I finally made it back to Salt Lake. I was lost in a world of pain, I escaped one horror to find myself in another. I worked two jobs at one point just to try to raise my children in a household that I felt like a slave, I cooked and cared for 12 people aside from myself, 3 of which were my children only to have my paychecks taken from me to assure I couldn’t leave. Afraid and unsure, alone and lonely I felt hopeless; these kids may someday make it off the street and find a home but the damage they will endure getting there will last a lifetime.

My advice as a former homeless youth, these kids feel safer on the street because in some ways they are. But in many they are not. Some find family in the other youth they come across, they protect each other, they have each other’s backs, and they care like their families never did. (Potenza)

If you ever find yourself looking at a homeless youth forget what you think you know about them. Let it go. See them for the vulnerable human being they are. See pain they carry, and the hell that they have endured. See the survivor. Even if all you have is a smile give it. Let them know humanity still exists in human kind. I guarantee you they don’t feel like there is. I know… I’ve been there. Stand up for these youth and stop treating them like criminals. Give them a chance; show them what humanity is. Have compassion. If they are treated like criminals they will only learn that jail offers a warm place to sleep and food to eat. Is this really what we want to teach our children? They are merely surviving.

References

Appleseed. Issue Brief on the Education of Unaccompanied Homeless Youth. Boston and Washington DC, 2012. PDF.

National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Alone Without a Home: A State-By-State Review of Laws Affecting Unaccompanied Youth. Washington DC, 2012. PDF.

Potenza, Alessandra. "I've Been Homeless for Six Years." New York Times Upfront 15 September 2014: 10-13. PDF.

 

 

FINAL NOTEBOOK

The activities that made me think differently about a project or about my writing was notebook 3 tell the story of my research. I was missing so much more than I realized and as I did more throughout the semester I realized just how much I had limited myself. This was one of my favorite ones, as well as the one asking on Facebook and doing the word cloud but I think the ones I liked the absolute most were the monologue and the short stories, these two were so enlightening to write. I mirrored them each after people I know that dealt with these issues. I liked most of the notebook activities I did some were harder than others but most were very enlightening and helped with the processes this semester.

            As far as which ones will I try again in other writing circumstance, I actually re-envisioned my flash memoir and used kind of a monologue journal entry set up for it and for the first time ever I feel good about the story. Three new tools or strategies I know have, that I can use with confidence going forward are, 1. The word cloud, I love this and think it can be very interestingly entertaining. 2. Flash memoir it is so hard to only write a story in 700 words but does it really get down to the nitty-gritty and give me a place to start from. 3. My favorite assignment by far this semester has been the position argument. This one, I think was my best paper all semester and I am excited to use it in my group magazine project.