Dressed in green, on Nov. 17 Home Start led organizations, supporters, and community members gathered for a walk, rally and resource fair in support of ending homelessness for youth in El Cajon. This was part of a first ever regional awareness throughout the San Diego County region in honor of National Runaway and Homeless Youth Prevention Month.
November is National Runaway and Homeless Youth Prevention Month, a dedicated time to raise awareness about the experiences of at-risk youth across the county and to advocate for the prevention of youth homelessness. According to the California Coalition for Youth, there are over 2,000 parenting youth and their children experiencing homelessness. Additionally, among chronically homeless adults, 50% were homeless during the ages of 18 to 25.
A national survey on youth homelessness found approximately 4.2 million youth up to 24 years of age experience homelessness every year in the United States. Federal statistics show California remains the state with the highest population of people experiencing homelessness overall and the highest number of unaccompanied homeless youth, and more than 1,500 youth are among the homeless in San Diego County.
—A.H.F.
