24 Hours: Survival on the Streets

A Counselor Experience

Many people who are homeless are often lazy, drug addicts, con artists or just plain irresponsible. Judgments and misconceptions are made due to the fact that people are uneducated about our nation’s homeless crisis. This is particularly true when it has to do with the homeless youth population, which makes up the fastest growing segment of the United States homeless population.

In September of 2005, a group of ordinary people went undercover and dared to live on the streets for 24 hours with the homeless. When experiencing a life of no responsibility and no warm bed to sleep in, five volunteers with the STANDUP FOR KIDS-Orange County organization realized that being homeless was not just a physical challenge. It was an emotional roller coaster that made us all grateful to have family and friends that cared. We were never ejected or thrown away by our families, but unfortunately, our nation’s streets are filled with thrown away kids. We had three homeless Orange County street escorts, and their idea of family and friends are people they spange or beg for money with and the people they meet from time to time. These kids have been given up on, and in their eyes thrown away by their parents, teachers and local community members.

Our three street escorts were all under the age of twenty years old; there was one male age19, another male age 17 and a young girl age 15. Not only did they teach us how to beg for money, but also we dug through trashcans, and slept behind a Vons grocery store where these kids spent a lot of their time. They invited us into their home whole heartedly, and we were eager to explore and experience the life they lived day to day. The one thing we never truly expected was to experience the tremendous amount of pain that goes with this life. Life on the streets is not a party. The physical aspect of walking throughout the city, sleeping on the concrete and feeling the rumbling in our tummies could not compare to the hopeless thoughts that ran through our minds. We were only on the streets for 24 hrs. I think it would be accurate to say that these kids have no one. When living on the streets day after day, these kids lose a part of themselves to the horror of loneliness, rejection, and the pitiful stares from critical strangers. I experienced first hand the shame that comes from asking a perfect stranger for money, especially someone from my own peer group. Wasn’t I supposed to be on my way to a movie with friends? Aren’t these kids supposed to be worried about their high school dance or what college they will be attending in the fall? Instead, they are worried about surviving. Worried about when they will eat next, how to shake off the next pervert that strolls the neighborhood, and more importantly worried about where they will end up tomorrow. Will they survive?

One thing that we noticed was that these teenagers have no sense of time. They live their lives minute by minute; nothing is planned because you never know what the streets may bring. None of the businesses cared what we did, all they cared about was making sure that we didn’t chase away customers or that we weren’t loitering on their property. No one bothered to ask us if we needed anything or if we were okay or questioned why a group of young kids was drifting through the city with backpacks and sleeping bags. You could see the hurt in their eyes. Without motivation or that loving force of family guidance, we were all able to understand how an adolescent on the street would be driven to drink, sell or use drugs, and perhaps get involved in prostitution. It shielded them from the pain. Being intoxicated made the feeling of dismissal from the world that much less excruciating. Selling drugs gives them the money they need to eat and provide themselves with a toothbrush or a raincoat in the wet winter months. Prostitution provides them with a quick buck and gives them that sense of belonging, and the feeling of being wanted is fulfilled. This is something that every human being instinctively wants and strives to achieve. It is something these kids have never felt.

No fifteen-year-old dreams of living on the streets or sleeping in an alley. They dream of becoming doctors or the next big sports super star. Thirteen children die on the streets every day and every minute a child runs away.  It is heart wrenching to know that these vulnerable kids feel like there is no one there to care for them, no one to talk to them about their fears, and no one to push them in order to make their dreams a reality. What can we do to help children be saved from a lifetime of despair? How can we encourage them to believe that there are people out there they can trust, and that a bright future awaits them? The answer can be as simple as not turning a blind eye to the problem. Be aware of the power we have as individuals, which is the power to be connected to our communities and the bright young people that make up the future.

Written By: Brandy Madrid

STANDUP FOR KIDS - Orange County Volunteer

STANDUP FOR KIDS - Orange County
OrangeCounty@standupforkids.org