Homelessness

Purpose and Plan

For this project, Linda Ceriello and Katie Kiehnle have interviewed and are writing profiles of some of the young homeless population on Vashon. Our goal in doing this series is to bring understanding to the larger community about the real lives of homeless youth, in order to foster more compassion and helpful communication between community members. We are grateful for the support of grants from Development of Island Teens (DOIT), the Interfaith Council on Homelessness, and an anonymous donor.

Homeless people are very readily stereotyped in our culture. People tend to be fearful of that which they do not understand. Many non-homeless people, who don't know or cannot imagine why some people are homeless, tend to avoid interacting with them. They feel cautious around this population and are quick to wonder just what they are up to. Yet this group of young people is made up of individuals, with unique and different motives, experiences, and perspectives about the choices they make. By letting the individuals speak their own stories, we hope to begin to break down the
stereotypes and help to generate a more well-informed response to this group, as well as to each of them as individuals. The Beachcomber has agreed to print the series of profiles about once per month.