Show Me Health - Couch Surfing

How much do you know about teen homelessness in Livingston County?  Do you think we don’t have a problem because young people aren’t camped out on street corners or in front of our local Salvation Army?

Just because a young person has a roof over their head does not mean that they have stability, safety or a secure place to live.  Obviously, if you can’t go home, it’s not a sleepover. This means, for many young people, sleeping on a friends couch is just the beginning of an uncertain future which can lead to further hardships in life.

Thousands of young people with a roof over their head tonight are, in ­reality, slipping through the cracks and further down the slippery slope towards homelessness.

Although they might have a blanket over their body and a pillow under their head, their resting place isn’t necessarily safe, secure or stable.

These young people are couch surfers and, according to the Salvation Army, they are in the throes of the youth homelessness cycle.

So what, exactly, is couch surfing?  Couch surfing is typified as a person staying temporarily in a series of other people’s homes and making use of improvised sleeping arrangements. Young people often end up couch-surfing when they no longer feel safe at home.

Homeless services providers are unable to help everyone – it is ­estimated that half the people who request immediate accommodation are turned away.

Couch surfing is a common ­alternative.  At first, this might seem fun and even exciting – moving from friend to friend with few household responsi­bilities and new faces every few days.  Eventually, the novelty wears off, the generosity of friends is tested; the couches run out and the stark reality of homelessness hits.

Livingston County is one of twenty-two communities across the United States that has been chosen to work on Voices of Youth Count, a first-of-its-kind national effort aimed at ending youth homelessness.

Voices of Youth Count is an innovative, original research effort designed to link evidence and action by capturing the experiences of runaway and homeless youth, more clearly defining the scope of the issue, and driving compelling knowledge into the hands of the broad national community dedicated to ending youth homelessness.

Voices of Youth Count will collect original data by interviewing and surveying youth and those around them, conducting quantitative analyses aimed at establishing a reliable national estimate, rigorously examining the effectiveness of investments we are making as a country, and connecting findings to the existing knowledge base built by a diverse and caring field.

In this county, volunteers aged 18-25 will be surveying their ‘homeless’ peers at the places they hang out, and at a special event at the Community Resource Center, located on Webster Street next to the Sheriff’s office, from 1 to 9 p.m.  There will be a place to hang out, food, drinks and a $5 gift certificate for kids who take time to get surveyed.

The project is also recruiting volunteers 18-25 to survey, for a wage of $10 per hour; as well as licensed drivers over 18 who would be willing to chauffer the kids going out surveying.  If you can help in either capacity, call the Community Resource Center at 646-1667 or 247-1495 and ask to speak to Sherrie.