After experiencing homelessness as a teenager, Han still struggles with housing insecurity. She reflected on how the Coronavirus affected her as a college student, quickly working to find a place to stay when she was notified with three days notice that the dorms would be closing, and thought about what it would have been like had she still been in high school when the pandemic hit. "If I'd been stuck at home during quarantine with my mom, I don't know if I would have survived. School was always my safe space," she said.
Another student described her experience of staying in hotels, and even a storage unit, with her mother and sisters. Christine recalled spending all day at school or the library, which offered safe spaces to study, change, and relax. Since she and her family were technically sheltered, they did not qualify for many programs under the federal definition of homelessness. The narrow definitions of homelessness that many programs use limit the ability for many young people to access the help they need, Christine explained.
Read more, including additional stories from formerly homeless youth and policy recommendations.
