OGDEN, Utah — For some, staying out all night can be a fun challenge. But for others, it’s their reality.
“We're coming to experience just a small piece of what they might experience on the streets,” said Kristen Mitchell, the founder of Youth Futures.
Youth Futures is a runaway and homeless shelter that hosted a "sleepout" and fundraiser Saturday evening to raise awareness for teenagers who experience homelessness.
“Everybody's going to get a piece of cardboard, and they've all brought their sleeping bags and warm clothing, and they're going to sleep all night long here,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said they estimate 7,000 kids experience homelessness at least one night a year.
“They tend to stay very hidden; they're not going to be out and proud on the streets because they don't want to get criminalized, so it's really important that we make sure that we are recognizing that they're out there,” she said.
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Board member Edward Smart said this topic hits close to home.
“My daughter was abducted back in 2002 and when she was missing, we had no idea what we could do to help her,” Smart said.
Smart added that he leaned on the community during that time, and nine months later, she came home.
Now, he wants to do that same thing for kids who experience similar trauma.
“In seeing what she went through, what many of the kids here go through. I mean, you don't want that to be about their whole life. You want them to move forward. This was something that happened in my life, but it is just not defining everything about my life,” Smart said.
It also hits home for Shilyn Alex, who relied on the services when she was just 16 years old and now works at the shelter.
“They helped me with so much. I always had a warm meal here, and I loved coming to group, and ever since working here, we’ve helped so many kids through some really terrible trauma,” she said.
With rising costs, however, Mitchell said they have seen a 50% increase in their shelter this year.
“With food insecurity happening with the food stamps issues, we're going to see more and more of that. We've got federal funds that are blocked. So, it's just been a really challenging year,” Mitchell said.
Alex said it’s important to raise awareness now more than ever.
“There's a lot of decisions being made in the world, and they're affecting our teenagers directly and affecting funding for places like this. I think we all have to work together to make sure that the people that we’re serving have the resources that they need,” she said.
More information and resources can be found at youthfuturesutah.org.
