Panel sponsored by NCDC & Dance Marathon discusses plight of homeless youth in ChicagoEvery night there are 1,343 youth who experience homelessness in Chicago. There are fewer than 50 emergency shelter beds to accommodate them.
A five-person panel discussed the plight of homeless Chicago youth as part of Winter Quarter’s Undergraduate Lecture Series on Race, Poverty and Inequality organized by the Northwestern Community Development Corps. About 60 students attended the Monday night panel discussion in Annenberg Hall, which was co-sponsored by NU Dance Marathon.
Each panelist presented a different aspect of life experienced by homeless youth, which ranged from foster care to runaway support and juvenile justice.
“We wanted a good blend of people with firsthand experience and people who do research on the issues,” said Sophie Meyers, a Weinberg junior and NCDC committee member for the lecture series. “We want students to come and become more informed about these issues.”
The group chose homelessness as the focus of this quarter’s lecture series because of its prevalence in Evanston, said Michael Waxman, NCDC co-chair.
“We also selected it because Dance Marathon had chosen StandUp for Kids as their beneficiary, so it would be a great way to rally the campus around one issue,” the Weinberg junior said.
Many topics discussed by the panel are directly related to DM’s volunteer efforts with StandUp for Kids, said DM co-chair Lauren Troy. The SESP senior has conducted street outreach for homeless youth in Chicago. She said the problems faced by LGBT homeless youth, which were discussed by Monday night’s panelists, particularly resonated with her.
Kathi Crowe, the executive director of the National Foster Care Coalition, spoke about her personal experiences in foster care and later as a homeless 17-year-old. She also addressed the need for reform in order to improve the foster care system in the United States.
“As bad of a problem as homelessness is for the general population of young people, it’s much worse for young people who age out of foster care,” she said. “About 25 percent of kids who leave foster care experience at least one night of homelessness in their first two and a half years out.”
While most students are aware of homelessness in Evanston and Chicago, many do not think about homeless youth as frequently, said Alex Roybal.
“These were all new ideas for me,” the Weinberg senior said. “I knew nothing, especially about youth homelessness. The numbers were astounding.”
The final event of NCDC’s lecture series, an interactive dinner, will be held Friday in the Big Ten Room of Norris University Center. Students will work in groups and simulate the decisions made in funding homeless programs and resources in Chicago.[email protected]