Safezone

November 4, 2013

If I could figure out a way to market snot, I would be a rich person by now. Always incredulous as to how much I can produce in one day-boxes of tissue, numerous numbing episodes with the nettie pot (if you have not had the pleasure of using one, you don’t know what you are missing.) The woman on the box, who is smiling during the procedure, must be on high doses of over-the-counter cold medication. I promise you, there is absolutely nothing to be happy about while dribbling warm salt water thru your nasal passages. It gives me an instant headache and I can’t even look the nettie pot in the eye afterwards.

Tonight, I threw infectious caution into the wind and drove down the street to join my neighbors at the Block Club meeting. I learned far more than I anticipated about the homeless youth population in our own Ramsey County. 80% of the 16-to-20 year olds are of color, there is a startling 21% increase in the number of homeless each year, 60% of the young people have one parent who is currently incarcerated, over 4000 seeking shelter each night are under 21 years of age. One of the local programs who serve this populous does an extraordinary job of supporting these kids, nearly 100 per day. They are also willing to bump into the youth on the streets, helping them work in conjunction with the community. They not only provide education but shelter, temporary housing, meals, case management, offer a medical clinic, counseling, GED assistance, clothing, laundry, computer labs, independent living skill-building, sexual health education and street outreach.

I don’t pretend to understand what it is like for these children to be living under these extreme circumstances yet, I aim to. The youth need shelter, food and education in order to better their lives and the community they live in. They are where they are due to economic circumstances and the neighborhood is stepping to try and make a difference. When kids are having kids because they have no one else to count-on in their lives, we owe it to them to work things out together. They act tough, aggressive and determined yet, separated from their gang, they are lonely and, well, children.