“And how are the children?” – African Proverb

In America, one in 10 young adults ages 18-25, and at least one in 30 adolescents ages 13-17, experience some form of homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or guardian over the course of a year. These young people are often victims of family conflict, economic hardship, racial disparities, mental health and substance use disorders, and/or child welfare and juvenile justice system involvement. Homelessness only exacerbates these problems causing increased vulnerability to trauma, as well as sex trafficking and exploitation. The pressures and stress of living homeless deprive homeless youth of opportunities to become the productive citizens they dream to become.

How do we expect a 15-year-old to focus on a calculus class when they don’t know where they’ll sleep once the final school bell rings?

An Effective End to Homelessness is Possible

Launched in 2016, A Way Home America (AWHA) has reimagined the way in which leaders are working to end youth homelessness across the nation. AWHA is a national initiative to build the movement to prevent and end homelessness among youth and young adults. The initiative works to expedite radical transformation in addressing youth homelessness. AWHA consists of homeless youth providers, advocates, researchers, government agencies, philanthropists and young people uniting behind a common goal: prevent and end homelessness among all youth and young adults. AWHA is not an organization, but an initiative with the sole purpose of ending youth homelessness.

AWHA is in a unique position to contribute:

  1. Access to shared resources and expertise across the movement, not constrained by interest of single organizations;
  2. Perspectives from across the sectors which make up the movement to end youth homelessness (philanthropy, service providers, young people, researchers, and national advocates);
  3. Singular focus on ending homelessness;
  4. A sense of urgency to effectively solve youth homelessness;
  5. Lessons learned.

While we have been working for years to support young people one by one experiencing homelessness, we have not had the information to actually effectively end youth homelessness across entire communities.

AWHA’s formation was inspired by the success of 66 communities (and counting) who proved it is possible to effectively end homelessness among veterans. Prior to this achievement, many assumed homelessness, for any population, was an intractable social problem. Knowing that an effective end to homelessness is possible has radically changed the goal and our work: Success is now nothing short of ensuring homelessness among young people is ended.

In order to be more effective and efficient, AWHA is taking a new approach, informed by previous transformative movements, to develop solutions that work especially well for young people. AWHA has inspired unprecedented collaboration among leaders across sectors and communities to develop an effective strategy that accounts for the specific needs of homeless youth. The initiative is grounded in an equity lens and the leadership of young people - working to demonstrate that an effective end to youth homelessness is possible.

How You Can Help
  • Innovative work is being done to end youth homelessness across the country. Learn more with AWHA’s interactive map which highlights these efforts state-by-state.
  • Support the AWHA initiative. You can help ensure that all young people reach their full potential and contribute to stronger communities and economies across the country.