Teens
Brandon Stokes has a disarming smile. He asks thoughtful questions and leans in to hear the answers. The conversation is easy, but don’t mistake Brandon for easygoing. Brandon’s got grit—which may be one reason he is on such a promising path at age 26, even though he was born into a homeless...
Juan Valdez vividly recalls the night he left home.
“I grabbed a whole bunch of black plastic bags, packed all of my things, and went to my best friend’s house. And, I mean, what else could I do? I was 16, I didn’t know how to do anything,” Juan said.
Juan was kicked out of his house when he...
A 26 year old man is homeless since leaving his parent's house as a teenager.
My troubles in life started out in the usual, "I hate everyone and I know what I'm doing" kind of way. Just to let you know, I was wrong! I moved out on my own with some rather hateful words to my parents - my father - to...
"My father physically abused me so I left and went to go live with my friend's family."
It all started when I was living with my father in Tillsonburg. Tillsonburg was where I lived my whole life. My Dad, my sister, and me were living with my Uncle. My brother who had been living with friends, left...
Katie’s childhood brings back distressing memories of a mother-daughter relationship that slide steadily into a sad, destructive cycle of anger, frustration and blaming. At just 12 years of age, Katie was so desperate to get away from home that she pleaded to be placed in foster care.
Hope turned...
A young man makes his way across Canada by hitchhiking and hopping trains …
If I was to speak of homelessness, I suppose I would have to tell a bit of my history so here I go.
I was thrown out of the house when I was thirteen by my ultra-conservative parents who didn't quite know what to do with...