Member-only story
Do We Just Dispose of Kids?
Struggles of Youth Make or Break Them. 3 Ways We Can Help.
I suppose we should be encouraged that a bipartisan resolution to call attention to youth homelessness passed and got a smidge of media attention. And Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV, took the lead on this action. West Virginia has been in the news for discovering that they have more than 10,000 students experiencing homelessness. Finally!
Manchin recently touted his support for homeless kids, saying
“Every child should have somewhere safe in their life where harm cannot enter, and they are protected.”
It’s hard for me to applaud these insipid statements when the reality that kids I know, and millions I don’t know, struggle with various aspects of homelessness, often on their own. Some escape relatively unscathed. Some, including my loved ones, have died because of the trauma they’ve experienced on the streets. Most will suffer long-term effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences, ACE.
Resolutions, nice on the surface, don’t do diddly-squat for them. I thereby offer the following example herein:
