For General Public

Youths are on the streets for a lot of different reasons. It varies from person to person. Some youths leave horrifically abusive environments. Some youths leave due to school problems. Some leave due to poverty. A lot of youths are, in fact, on the street because they've been thrown out of their homes.

When you're homeless working and living outside is extremely hard. Also most jobs don't pay you until the third week, so for those three weeks you haven't had anything to survive on. Also most jobs require you to have an address in order to work, and some employers are prejudiced towards people who are homeless and they won't give them a job.

In some provinces you can't get on welfare unless you have an address. Others feel that being on assistance is mooching off the system.

Some food banks give you stuff that you need an oven or a microwave to use, so that type of food isn't really beneficial for a person who doesn't have those facilities. Other food banks only give you food if you have an address, health card, or a welfare stub.

Like everyone, youths spend their money on a lot of things. Response by person answering: I find this question to be kind of rude

Because they feel like they are doing something. They feel like they are earning their money.

Of course they feed their animals. Food for their dog is more important to most people on the street than their own food. People on the street generally take better care of their animals than those who work all day, these dogs spend all their time with their owner, what could be better than that? Yes some people on the street don't take the best care of their dog but you'll find that in any part of society.

Well, because you may have some resources that could help that person, or a meal you couldn't finish, or any extra $1 in your pocket that could help that person along.

There are a lot of ways you could help. Here are a few:

Write a letter or call your municipal, provincial/state, and federal representatives and ask for better resources to address youth homelessness.

Vote for persons who have a positive homelessness agenda.

Donate to a local homeless service. For searchable directories of services, see InterNetwork for Youth for services in the United States, Almudo.com for services around the world, and Shared Learnings on Homelessness for services in Canada.

Become involved in advocacy for the homeless. There are several organizations that serve this purpose. A good starting point in the U.S. is the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Speak out for homeless youth when you hear friends or family sharing erroneous or stigmatizing views (e.g., they are lazy, dangerous etc.)

If a homeless youth says hi to you, smile and say hi back.

If you can, offer them a job. Many youths would find it helpful to do a few days or hours of work to earn some money.

There are a wide range of organizations that work to help these young people. These include shelters (places where youths can temporarily have a place to stay), clinics where youths can get healthcare, places where youths can get food and clothes, and "drop ins" where youths can get a range of help including counselling, legal help, medical help, and help finding work and housing. These agencies, however, have two major problems: There are not enough services to meet the demands of the massive numbers of homeless youths (more than 1 million in North America), and they are not adequately funded. For searchable directories of services, see InterNetwork for Youth for services in the United States, Almudo.com for services around the world, and Shared Learnings on Homelessness for services in Canada.