More than likely, you've seen these teenagers. Some hang around shopping malls and bus stops looking as if they have nowhere to go. The sad truth is, an estimated 150 youths in the Salt Lake Valley don't have a place to go. They're homeless.
At night, they may squat in vacant houses or perhaps the garage of an acquaintance. Others walk the streets until morning, which poses a different set of risks. About the only constant in the lives of many homeless teenagers in the Salt Lake area has been the Homeless Youth Resource Center. The shoe-string operation, run out of a storefront on State Street, provides youths with a shower, a change of clothes and lunch. For a few hours each day, homeless youths can count on having a safe place to go.Now, because of a funding shortage, the center's hours of operation may be cut. If a reliable source of funding cannot be identified, the program may shut its doors for good. Utahns simply cannot allow that to happen.
Already, many homeless youths perceive themselves as "throw-aways." Some have serious substance abuse issues, other have broken away from troubled families. Still others have been thrown out of their homes.
Some have created their own problems. Others are victims of familial circumstances. Regardless how they get became homeless, Utahns have a moral obligation to help the less fortunate; to extend a hand to all of the community's youths.
Utahns have been generous to many organizations that serve the needy, among them Volunteers of America, which recently took over the center from another organization that lacked the ability to manage it.
Beyond contributions to charities, many Utahns will give money to adult panhandlers. When faced with a similar plea from a homeless youth, the same people may turn away. Some people are threatened by youths' appearance. Others gruffly tell them to get a job. Without a home telephone number, let alone a home, finding a job is nearly impossible.
Homeless youths need what all youths need: stability and opportunity. The Homeless Youth Resource Center is not a panacea, but it is a springboard for positive change. Some kids need help returning to school or placement in an alternative school setting. The center can also refer homeless youths to its group home, which requires residents to abide by house rules and help with household chores.
The underlying goal of the program's services is to interrupt the cycle of homelessness and help homeless youths get in control of their lives. To do that, VOA needs financial assistance from Utahns, and fast.
Please help VOA express to these displaced young men and women that they are not throwaways, that they are valued as human beings.