'We must do more:' Local advocates, leaders call attention to youth homelessness crisis

Jordan Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When Jada Guiste suddenly found herself living in her cousin’s unfinished basement with her mother and two brothers, she didn’t think she was experiencing homelessness. At least, not at first. 

Bouncing from home to home as a teenager, she eventually separated from her family and was on her own by age 16.

Ms. Guiste didn’t tell anyone about her situation until she had to. One of her friends opened up their home to her when she had nowhere else to go.

Now a student ambassador for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, Ms. Guiste, 20, stood in front of the City-County Building Tuesday to sound the alarm about the growing youth homelessness crisis.

“A lot of people suffer besides me,” Ms. Guiste said. “We need to raise awareness so that there's not another little girl that feels like she has to carry the burden alone.”

For the third consecutive year, the HCEF is launching its YOU CAN campaign, which serves as a call to action to the community to donate and advocate for students experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit aims to raise $100,000 by the end of October.

As part of the news conference kicking off the campaign, county Executive Sara Innamorato and Mayor Ed Gainey officially declared October as Homeless Children’s Awareness Month in Allegheny County.

“What are we doing to ensure that the least of us, our youth, are growing up in a stable environment where they see a future and aren’t worried about where they are going to lay their head tomorrow?” Mr. Gainey said. “We all have that obligation.”

Holding art created by local homeless youth, dozens of community members gathered for 3 minutes and 50 seconds of silence, representing the nearly 3,500 kids experiencing homelessness across the county. That number is a nearly 12% increase from last year, surpassing the record for a second year in a row.

The same trend is playing out statewide — Pennsylvania saw the number of homeless kids jump from 40,000 to 46,000 in the past year.

HCEF CEO AJ Jefferson called on federal, county and city leaders to come to the table with local school districts and community groups to find solutions.

“We must do more,” Ms. Jefferson said. “We must ensure that funding and policies truly address the root causes of homelessness, rather than just maintaining its symptoms. I urge you, I implore you, to continue prioritizing youth and family homelessness as a national concern.”

HCEF offers educational programs and support services to unstably housed youth across Allegheny County. This year, the nonprofit launched “Winnie’s Wagon” to deliver academic tutoring services directly to families.

Ms. Jefferson said homelessness shouldn’t “equate to helplessness” for any child, emphasizing that young people directly feel the consequences of an inadequate social support system. 

“We form the safety net that can lift our children up,” she said. “Let's leverage our collective strengths and resources to ensure that homelessness is not a permanent label, but a temporary situation on the path to a brighter future.” 

Ms. Innamorato recalled her own experience with homelessness. She walked off the school bus one day and her mother already had her bag packed. They needed to leave home due to her father’s substance use. She would live in 10 different places by the time she graduated high school.

One moment still sticks with her two decades later, when she told the principal about her circumstances and why she was living farther away from school. All the principal replied was, “Well, if you're not living in the district, then you can't go to school here.”

“I will tell you what, I did not tell another adult about our situation again,” Ms. Innamorato said.

She thinks about how different things would have been now.

“I know that the school leaders who are here today, if I would've went to you 25 years ago, I would've been met with a much different outcome,” she said. “I would've been connected with services. I would've been validated in my experience.”

That was what Ms. Guiste experienced when she felt comfortable enough to reach out. Her school connected her with a social worker and a counselor. She found the assistance so meaningful that she wants to work in the mental health professional. She’s studying psychology as a third-year student at the University of Pittsburgh.

To start advocating for legislative solutions, she helped launch the HCEF’s Collegiate Advocacy Committee. One area she is focused on is improving access to medical care. She went two years without a doctor’s visit because minors need a parent or guardian with them during appointments. 

While she once thought that she had to bear the burden of homelessness on her own, she wants other kids to know it doesn’t have to be that way. “In reality, there are people that want to help,” Ms. Guiste said. 

Mr. Gainey sees Ms. Innamorato and Ms. Guiste’s stories as inspiration for what’s possible. 

“To every young person who can hear my voice today that might be in a situation that they're homeless, look to Jada, look to where she's come from,” Mr. Gainey said. “Look at the county exec, look at where she's at. That can be you, too.”

For more information on HCEF and to RSVP for upcoming events, visit homelessfund.org.