What are There Nearly Two Million of Every Night?

Quiz: What are there nearly 2 million of every night?

Answer: That’s the number of children and adolescents who are alone and homeless on any given night on the streets of America. It’s the reason why November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. Researchers consider that a low number since it is based on populations in shelters and drop-in sites for homeless teens. There is no way to count the thousands of nine to eighteen-year-olds who live in abandoned buildings or under bridges. These are children with no place to call home and no one to call family.

Some are runaways. In almost every case, they didn’t run away to find adventure. They ran away from abuse, drugs, beatings, and worse. Some of them take siblings when they run, trying to keep them from the same dysfunction that drove them out. You may find a “family” of two or three where the head of the household is fourteen.

Some started as part of an intact homeless family. But as being homeless got harder, they were considered expendable and told to fend for themselves, sometimes waking up one morning in a shelter to find the rest of the family gone.

Some are “throwaway kids”. They were considered to difficult to manage, or were in trouble too often, so they were locked out of their homes.

However, they got there, they are street kids. It is estimated that one-third of the girls on the street under the age of 14 are raped within six weeks of hitting the streets. The suicide rate is explosive. Over 62% of those who will say something about suicide admit to having tried it themselves, sometimes more than once.

A few, mainly throwaway kids, try to stay in school. They don’t tell teachers or even sometimes their friends that they are now homeless. They couchsurf – moving from house to house, from sofa to sofa, with excuses about why they are not heading home at the end of a day. They join other teens in squats, abandoned buildings that small groups of homeless youth take over and live in.

They eat out of dumpsters, seeking out leftovers thrown away by restaurants and hotels. They panhandle if they dare. They steal food, clothing and things they can sell quickly on the streets.

These are children with no address, no phone number, no key to a better place. They are meeting adult issues with adolescent, and younger, minds. Every morning begins another search for something to eat and somewhere to sleep. It’s all that occupies their time

There are organizations who are trying to help this population. StandUPforKids, and Children of the Night are two. StandUPforKids has Virgin Mobile behind it and several noteworthy partners. But it isn’t enough if this group is still 2,000,000 strong. That’s a lot of zeroes to represent the future of our country.