(light music) (upbeat music) - Welcome to a very special episode of Generation Grit.

If there's one thing all our minds have in common, it's being subjected to bias.

When we see something like a village of tents on a city street, the mind longs to rationalize it, oftentimes while using the least amount of energy possible.

But the tent communities you see around Colorado are barely the tip of the iceberg.

As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, over 580,000 people are still actively experiencing homelessness on any given night.

18% of them are youth.

In order to overcome these biases, we need to take the time to dig deeper, analyzing not only what personal circumstances lead these people to the housing instability, but the societal flaws that have led to so many people facing these struggles.

Tonight, we'll do just that.

Everyone you see on your screen this evening, including yours truly has experienced housing instability as a youth.

There are countless scenarios that can lead to this, and we'll explore just a few.

Today, I'm joined by Ayashi Cornelius, artist, activist for the homeless and mother of two.

Welcome Ayashi.

- Hi.

- Sitting by her are Mari and Hunter.

Mari is a skater and Hunter enjoys gaming.

Mari and Hunter are here representing the place, a youth shelter in Colorado Springs.

Thank you all for sharing your time with us and coming all the way up to Denver.

Let's learn more about the place and the services they provide.

- I was physically beat by my biological father.

I mean, he did that for three and a half years.

I just couldn't take it anymore.

So I left.

- Because of my depression and past trauma.

It didn't feel good.

It didn't feel good at all.

It hurt.

They take you in and they help you no matter what your story is, urban peak is there for you.

- 46% of youth struggle with mental illness.

One in five youth struggle with substance abuse.

Collaborating with healthcare providers, we provide both medical treatment and counseling onsite.

- I actually had one of the staff there and sometimes one of the people that actually stayed there with me would just walk up to me and asked me if I was okay.

They started to kind of help me nudge myself into the job classes that they had there at urban peak.

- Being in a group of people who are similar to my age, who were also going through hard stuff.

Like we all have different stories, but there were a lot of other LGBT people here and being able to have the community of my peers.

- And it feels awesome to finally have my own apartment again because I messed up my first one.

It just, it feels awesome.

I've got all my things that I want.

My skateboard and I need to fix my bike.

I got clothing.

I can wash.

It feels great to be inside of it.

- I want to say thank you.

Because without the support of urban peak, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Who knows what would have happened to me, but I certainly wouldn't be following my dreams and doing all this fun stuff.

I'm in love with my life.

And it certainly wouldn't be that way if I didn't have the support from urban peak, when I was a teenager.

(inspiring music) - Our community is really lucky to have organizations like the place looking out for our youth.

Now let's get into it.

Oftentimes the first question that comes to mind when people learn of the high numbers of youth experiencing homelessness is why?

So I'm going to turn to you all to help us answer that.

Can you share your personal stories for a bit and how you ended up experiencing this?

We'll start with the Ayashi.

- I came to Colorado in the summer of 2016 from the Midwest.

I came here fleeing domestic violence and human trafficking.

I was 19 and I was pregnant with my second child.

I spent the first seven months in Colorado homeless.

I got a place that I lived in for about a year, and then I was evicted from that place due to more domestic violence.

And then I spent another nine months homeless, which was a mix between couch surfing.

And I had a storage unit that me and both my kids frequently slept in.

After about eight months, I finally started putting pressure on a lot of different local organizations that helped with housing homeless youth in an attempt to get a voucher and shortly into my nine month of being homeless with two children, I was contacted by a local organization and they offered me a permanent supportive housing voucher.

I've had a housing voucher since about May of 2018.

- Great job advocating for yourself.

I'm sure that got really exhausting at some points for sure.

Who would like to go next, Hunter or Mari?

How about you Hunter?

- So I'll admit there's not really too much that I had really wanted to get into, but say after a certain point in life, things started to go to a point where I didn't want to be at home anymore due to a number of factors.

And I figured after a lot of thinking and wondering what I should do next, I really just decided that it was best that I left.

0 Great.

And what about you, Mari?

What would you like to share?

- At age 14 is when I was hurt by someone really close to me, a father figure of some sort.

And I was at that pivotal age in which I realized that leaving that environment in order for my own safety would create this progression of maturity that the place had provided for me.

And in order to find out what my purpose on this world is.

- Awesome.

So a big theme of self-advocacy here and great job having that strength you guys.

For some people who might think finding housing and stability is as simple as getting a job, what were some obstacles that you faced in your transition?

- It's not as simple as getting a job.

When I first came to Colorado and was homeless, I had two jobs and it still took me seven months to get a place.

Childcare is very expensive.

Colorado has resources for, they don't have enough resources, but they have resources for youth.

They have virtually no resources for youth with children.

When I first came to Colorado, I had two options of places that I could go that were shelters for youth with children.

Both of them are religious based.

Both of them, I was required to go to church.

I'm not gonna be forced to go to church, to have a place to sleep.

I'll sleep outside.

That and the waiting lists were like four miles long.

I know since I've been involved, I got involved with the youth action board and I got involved with the board of directors for MDHI.

I've learned more resources that they have for youth, but it's not enough.

It's not enough.

- Absolutely.

What about you guys, any big barriers you faced in deciding to transition out of your homes?

- When I had left home, being the gamer, I have a bunch of very important items that I had to bring with me.

So when I had packed my bags, I realized I had a ton to carry.

So I had a 140 pound bag out, just dragging along the side of the highway for a long time.

Now, rather than ditch that bag, I would've plugged into it.

Then I had gotten some rides, got some help from friends.

I got from to Hartsel to Woodland park.

And then I had been brought to the Springs and I learned about the place.

And then once I got to the place, I finally had a place to drop all of my items.

I had a bed.

- Good, good.

How long have you been at the place?

- This would be month seven.

- Gotcha, okay.

But you Mari, anything come into mind?

- I'm gonna be honest.

I initially thought of monetary setbacks, but the one that impacted me the most was the emotional disconnect.

It's a response, a trauma response to be independent and not want to rely on anybody, but urban peak and Colorado Springs offered me a new family and new paths to crave a better way of life.

- Awesome, the family you choose is so important.

I love that.

And that totally resonates with me too.

I had a hard time trusting authority after my experiences as well.

And it got to a point where when I did have housing, it was hard for me to deal with the stability and people overseeing how I went about that.

That was a huge barrier.

- It's the opposite for me.

I feel like I wanted to trust that everybody was gonna help me because everybody was kind of in my face like, oh, we want to help you.

We want to make sure that you get housed.

We wanna get you and your kids off the street.

But then it was such a long process.

And it was so much of me doing the programs, work for them, that it was kind of discouraging and it, most of the time made me not even want to do it.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Let's dig a little bit into now what has worked and we'll get into some things we're excited about too.

I know this is all really heavy stuff to recap.

And again, I appreciate you all sharing.

So what are some things that have worked on your journey?

You mentioned the place helped you get some stability.

You were able to get a CCH voucher after a few years, correct?

- About, almost two years.

- Yeah, are there any other people or programs that have helped you on this journey?

- Just how the previous female in the advertisement had discussed her depression and anxiety getting the best of her, urban peak offers a lot of therapeutical outsources so that people feel all right with disclosing some information to somebody who isn't a peer and has some sort of direction.

Yeah, that's one thing that I definitely love about my voucher is I haven't had the best case workers in the world, but they connected me with mental health services that are really great and are definitely wanted and needed and accepted.

I got a lot of help when I joined the board, the board was great.

I wish that the board was still running.

I wish that I could have told everybody about the board and everybody that was a youth and was homeless and needed help could have joined.

I got connected with so many resources and met so many helpful, insightful people.

And it was a really, really, really great experience.

- That's awesome.

How 'bout you, Hunter, what's been helping you?

- It was definitely the friends that I've made here.

Cause back at home, I just kinda kept away from my family.

I didn't want to be around anyone too much.

So I was oftentimes just by myself.

So after coming here, I was definitely gonna make a lot of good friends cause something I had come to realize that I kind of lost myself during that time.

So after it being able to actually talk to friends and whatnot, I was able to really see and remember what I was, what I wanted to be.

- Love that.

So again, family you choose and a nice side of mental health support.

I love that.

So what are you all proud of accomplishing during this journey?

Again, I mentioned it's very clear.

You all had to advocate for yourselves very much.

Again, that resonates with me.

I was self-advocating for awhile and I somehow managed to finish high school through that.

That's something that I will always hold on to, whether it's a small accomplishment to some or not.

What are some accomplishments that you're treasuring at this point?

- I went to college.

- Awesome.

- I went to college.

I didn't think I was gonna go to college.

I don't even think it was an option to go to college 'cause college is expensive.

I started in art business last year in the beginning of COVID, which was great because my therapist is always like, being creative is good for your mental health.

And it definitely helped during lockdown, being stuck in the house.

I got a job.

My kids are doing good.

That's all that's really important to me is I feel like I'm finally getting on a path to being in a good stable place.

And it feels really good.

- Awesome.

'Bout you Mari?

- Honestly, I held a lot of groups with concerning domestic violence and a lot of women who couldn't come out and be forthcoming about what they were going through and how they were feeling.

And all that jazz really made me feel better, but it's not as selfish as that.

I also got to help a lot of other homeless youth with joining AA and continue their life with being sober.

- Awesome, those are huge accomplishments.

Great work.

And Hunter, what are you proud of?

- The thing I'm definitely proud of most is making it here.

'Cause now I'm finally living the life that I aspire to be.

And I know it's the very beginning and there's still a lot of work to do and whatnot, but I started.

- Absolutely.

- That's my biggest thing.

And now that I'm able to have a job, I'm on track to getting housing.

I have a credit card so I can start building credit.

Cause that's something I wish I knew about far earlier is credit.

- Yeah, you're ahead of me.

Oh yeah.

- Great work.

- But it's just that the fact that I have all of these things starting to line up and everything's starting to fall into place, each little bit gives a little more motivation, you know?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely, those are big steps and huge.

Awesome, and what would you want people to know about youth experiencing homelessness and how they might be able to step in?

- This was such a common question on the youth action board when we were talking about advocacy.

Not all youth homeless are drug addicts or alcoholics.

We're not lazy.

We're not homeless because we want to be here, because we want, we don't want to get a job or because we don't want to go to school.

The majority of the time it's direct results from trauma at home, trauma with a partner in my case.

Cause I had already been moved out for a couple of years.

It's not really our fault.

The system isn't really that great.

There's a lot of holes and a lot of stuff that needs to be worked on.

And I wish people talked about more like why the system doesn't work instead of why the system does work because the system doesn't really work.

- Yeah, absolutely.

What do you think?

- Taking time out of your day.

I want a little short convo.

You know what I mean?

- Absolutely, yeah.

- It's all about being human and making that connection.

And some people just need to share their story, whether for five minutes or five hours or hopefully not five days, but.

- There's long stories.

- True.

- I hear that, what about you hunter?

What do you think?

- Everyone in this situation definitely has a story.

Many of which are often too long to get into.

But if there was anything that I wanted to clarify for anyone, not in this situation, it would have to be this.

It would be that everyone has a reason for being here.

Something that was out of their control.

Perhaps at some point they could have controlled it, but after a certain point, some things just get so far gone that sometimes this is the only option.

- Yeah, absolutely.

And to your point, even in the case of alcoholism or drug addiction, none of that comes from nowhere.

There's a reason for all of this.

And a lot of it goes far beyond the individuals experiencing it.

So what excites you all about your future at this point?

- Yeah, for me, I would say that now that things are coming together, I'm able to start gathering assets and whatnot, being at the place, I can have a spot to securely store my items, don't kind of have to outside or anything.

So I have a PC, I have beats in my pocket.

I've got my phone.

I've got good stuff.

I'm happy.

- Good.

- And with things like this, especially with anyone in my situation, life starts to feel more normal.

I think I have a nice phone.

I've got nice headphones.

I can play my games at night.

Life feels a little better.

- Good.

Awesome.

'Bout you?

- I am so happy to be where I am in my life right now.

My daughter just started first grade and I didn't think that we were gonna make it here.

Coming away from a place of violence was really, really hard for me and was really, really hard on them.

I didn't think that we were going to make it.

So being in a place now where I have my own apartment and I have my own car and I have friends and family and people in my life that support and love me, it feels really good because there was a long period of time that I didn't have that.

I gave up everything to get here.

I'm not crying 'cause I'm sad.

I'm very, very happy right now.

It's a really, really overwhelming, but good feeling.

- Yeah, those tears are of relief are so real.

I still, it's been a while since I've experienced what I did and I still get those on the regular.

Something I noticed about both your responses is an appreciation for the present.

While I think it's good to envision futures, I think a lot of people overlook their luck in this moment.

And both of you are fully embracing emotionally, physically what you have in this moment.

And I think that's something a lot of people can learn from.

What about you, Mari?

- I honestly look forward to going into the air force and helping out my country because I know that it's always bigger than myself.

- Yeah.

All right, and then what do you hope for the future of other people who might be in your shoes or the shoes you were in, in the past?

On a societal level, on a personal level?

What are your dreams for those people?

- I hope that they can follow the path to all of us have walked where sure it may have been difficult, but we got what we need and we're continuing to get what we need.

And eventually we'll be able to be out on our own and that they just have to know that the future may seem far away.

And with this kind of a situation, it seems even further, but it's coming.

It'll come and it'll pass and everyone will be better off for it.

- I hope for other youths in a situation similar to theirs or similar to mine or their own situation, I hope that they all continue to have the strength and the resilience to get out of dodge.

I know that it's hard.

I did it.

I know that there are a lot of obstacles and a lot of things that are against them.

But if I could do it, they could do it.

- Totally, yeah.

That was something that was coming up for me too is not only on a societal level, but for people who are scared to leave these awful situations they're in, it's really important that they see you all coming out the other side of it.

What about you, Mari?

What do you hope for?

- I hope for consistency.

That's one of my flaws.

I love to procrastinate.

- Relatable.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- You're not the only one, that's every girl in America.

- Yeah, be consistent.

There's there's good days.

And then there's just regular days.

But if you keep at it, you keep at your work ethic, there's gonna be a day where you're content.

- You know, it's funny that your keyword is consistency because when I first started getting stable and got my own apartment, I would write that in my journal every day, because I was so afraid that it would fall through, that I would mess it up, that anything would happen.

And I knew if I just kept pressing a little bit each day, it'd become more and more stable.

And I still have those moments where I'm like, is this gonna stay?

Am I okay now?

And I am, and, - I have a consistency is key poster on my, in my dining room.

- Perfect.

Yeah, that's a magic word.

- It's huge, it's like the whole wall.

- Yeah.

Consistency can lead to stability and seeking consistency.

Sometimes that's not just in your power, but finding circumstances that are consistent for you too.

And people who show up for you and jobs who are fair to you as well.

All right.

So are there any changes you'd like to see in the system as far as homelessness, whether it's schools, access to certain things, anything like that?

- I wish that, and I hope that somebody does this in the next couple of years, I would really like to see a shelter for homeless youth that are parents or homeless families that are youth.

I've come across several since I've been to Colorado of entire families with multiple children that are teenagers, that can't go to the same shelters together, or can't go to a shelter at all because they have kids and there's age restrictions.

I think that that would be something that would be really, really, really impactful.

And it's important.

It sucks to be a youth on the street in general, but it sucks even more to be a youth on the street and you're nine months pregnant or you have a two month old baby and it's the middle of winter.

I'm starting to see it more frequently than not.

And I just wish that there were more services for youth in general, but also homeless youth with kids.

- Definitely.

Clearly this is a discussion that deserves much longer than a half hour, but unfortunately our time's up.

I urge you to continue researching this issue and visiting the websites below to learn more about the organizations working hard to ease the issue of homelessness in Colorado.

Thank you all again for joining us and sharing your aspirations.

I am Elle Meth and for everyone here at PBS 12, goodnight.

(upbeat music)