Homeless teens explain their
plight
Renaissance House teaches life skills
to Duluth's young homeless
By Sarah Fleener - Story excerpted from
the Duluth Budgeteer
The
door to the Renaissance House looks like any other door on First Street,
and like that door, the youths inside look like any other youths. Except
these kids are teetering near homelessness, and that door is the
difference between security and ruin.
Inside Renaissance House, a
transitional living home sponsored by Lutheran Social Service, a group of
teens are sitting around a table, day-dreaming about a place where the
laundry is done for them, there is a hot meal on the table and the climate
is relaxed and loving.
"So many people think we're
homeless because of what we did to our parents, not what they did to us,"
said Sylvia Spellman, who was taken out of a less than loving home when
she was a child.
After being emancipated from
the foster care system, she was left with nothing and living in a dried up
California river bed for three months was the only option. "You run out of
resources," Spellman said. "You run out of places to crash, and then you
run out of cash. So, you sell your belongings for more money and when
that's gone, you have nothing."
According to a study done by
Wilder Research in April 2005, on any given night in Minnesota, there are
500 to 600 homeless youths, ages eight to 17, on their own. In addition,
nearly 3,000 children will be on the streets with their parents.
In Duluth, there are nearly
200 homeless youth on any given night, with only 23 beds in transitional
housing and shelters for them around town. So where do the rest go?
Couch surfing is a term used
to describe hopping from couch to couch, night after night, at friends'
and acquaintances' homes. Otherwise, they go to the skywalk, a bench, a
public bathroom, an abandoned building or a dark corner. "We lived in a
tent near the lake when we first got here," Samantha Morgan said, who
traveled with Spellman from California.
In some cases, the situation becomes even more desperate. Some youths will
walk around all night for fear of what will happen to them while they are
sleeping. For others, they are so desperate to survive, they will trade
sex for a place to sleep.
So, how does it come to
this? Lynn Gerlock-Collard, Renaissance director, said that kids become
homeless for a number of different reasons, but there is almost always a
history of family poverty, chemical abuse, physical, sexual or mental
abuse, mental health problems, and an overall disconnect from their
primary care giver.
It can be a gradual thing,
like for Christopher Connolly, who said he had a chain of abuses, fights
and conflicts that eventually led to his homelessness. "Your kids don't
end up homeless if you know how to be a parent," he said.
"These kids are like any
other kids. They just happen to be born into a specific set of
circumstances," Collard said. But not everyone is that understanding.
Collard said that the stereotypes she runs into are that homeless kids are
gothic, strung out on drugs, dirty, dumpster divers and someone to be
feared. "People ask me all the time, 'aren't you scared?'" Kevin Mullen is
the Renaissance supervisor. He said it is a misconception that all
homeless youths are violent and in gangs.
Like any stereotype, there
is an element of truth, Collard said, but in her experience these
stereotypes are blasted away after actually getting to know the youths.
The Renaissance House opened
in 2001 and is funded through federal and community grants, local
foundations, congregations and individuals.
The youth at Renaissance
have to go through an interview process that proves they are ready to make
some changes. Once in, the kids set goals on education, employment,
health, social skills, permanent living and spirituality. They are then
responsible for everyday goals, like keeping their rooms tidy, obeying
curfew and doing their chores.
Both Collard and Mullen said they love working with the homeless youths
because they're so hopeful. "I like working with potential, and that's
what I see in these kids," Collard said.
