street youth
For many years, I’ve been powerfully committed to the idea that the arts have the transformative and energetic power to create social change. Even a cursory knowledge of the history of social movements shows us that art is a powerful tool for challenging power structures, mobilizing communities, and re-imagining more just and equitable futures. I first got a sense of this power as a teenager in Guelph, Ontario, when I was given a small grant to run an arts program at a youth shelter. When...
This question came to us from Mike D. through our latest survey.
I’m glad that this question is being asked as it touches on a number of shifts in public policy that restrict the daily lives of homeless people including subsistence strategies such as panhandling, squeegeeing, and sleeping in public spaces. Often,...
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 or your local RCMP detachment. 911 and the RCMP can send immediate help. The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Depression Hurts and ...
This week’s infographic takes a look at the interaction of street youth in with the police in Toronto. Data in the infographic comes from a chapter in Youth Homelessness in Canada: Implications for Policy and Practice, a book that fills many gaps in the information available on youth homelessness. The book draws from homelessness research and focuses on effective solutions to youth homelessness. Like all...
The health and well-being of people is strongly related to the housing conditions that they live in. The below infographic, created by Seattle University’s Project on Family Homelessness, illustrates the link between poor housing conditions and it’s affect on children’s health.
People living in homelessness or poverty are at greater...
No one wants to be homeless and living on the street. It’s cold, dangerous and it can kill you. But at this very moment in Vancouver, 600+ youth, some as young as 13, call “the street” home.
How did they get there?Why? That’s a complicated question. But for many youth in Vancouver, the streets are safer than home.
Some youth come from generational poverty and leave home or are pushed...
Homeless people, especially homeless youth, are often regarded as threats to public safety. In the news it is common to read stories or hear reports that a law abiding member of the public was a victim of a crime committed by an individual of no fixed address. In other words, the assailant was a homeless person. And research does show, compared to the general population, certain types of street crime and illegal drugs use is more common amongst people who are homeless.
But if...
Many different terms are used to describe young people who are homeless, including including street youth, street kids, runaways, homeless youth, etc. Youth homelessness refers to young people between the ages of 13 and 24 who are living independently of parents and/or caregivers, and importantly, lack many of the social supports deemed necessary for the transition from childhood to adulthood. In such circumstances, they do not have a stable or consistent residence or source of income, nor...
Would you be outraged if your child was exposed to violence? Would your community consider this unacceptable?
That’s what I thought.
Then why do we, as a society, tolerate this when it comes to homeless youth?
In 2009, Bill O’Grady and I interviewed 244 homeless youth in Toronto. We asked them about their life on the streets and if they’d ever been a victim of crime. What we found...
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The analysis and interpretations contained in the blog posts are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness.