In for the count

Mark Joseph Williams entered the foster system in Merced County, California at age six. He was given an Adderall prescription and adopted at age seven. He was placed in a group home at 13 with his twin brother and their sister. He moved to Reno a few years ago to reconnect with his birth mother and father. He lost his extended foster care funding at age 20. Now 23, he spends most days at the Eddy House, a drop-in services center for homeless youth.

“Every single thing I own, the Eddy House has provided for me,” he said. “Eddy House is my main source of food. Medicaid, they hooked it up with Medicaid—I actually got it today. Food stamps, I just got something in the mail saying that my food stamps is good until May-something.”

Williams said he’s grateful that he’s connected with Eddy House. But the facility can’t meet all of his needs. It closes at 5 p.m.

“I’m still on the street,” he said. “It’s my mom—she doesn’t want me to always go to her when I need something. She’s not always going to be there for me.” He and a friend spend their nights at a hidden area outside where they sleep and store their things. When possible, he shares a “momo”—a nightly hotel room—with as many as seven other people.

“[In] Breakfast Club, there was the homeless guy who’s going to school,” said Williams. “He was always looked down on—why? He probably smelled, first of all. He was reckless. He was homeless. If you go to a job looking like that, smelling like that, you’re not going to get a job.”

Williams is working on getting a job. Recently, he met with a job placement counselor and was able to access a computer at Eddy House to write a resume. These services were offered to Williams and his peers during the annual Homeless Youth Point in Time Count on Jan. 25. Williams also received new clothing and toiletries that day—small items that could help him get a job, he said, and that he wouldn’t be able to get otherwise without stealing them.

Supplemental census

“We do a specialized youth count because the numbers that were being reported previously were very, very low and not accurate,” said Meredith Tanzer, organizer of the annual count. “We try to get a handle on young people 18 to 24 who are literally living on the streets or at risk of homelessness.”

The count began seven years ago as a supplement to the annual homeless population census required of all Continuum of Care services by the U.S. Department of Housing and Development. It is organized through combined effort by the Nevada Youth Empowerment Program (NYEP), the Eddy House and Our Center. (Tanzer is employed by the first two and vice president of the latter.)

In 2016, the Reno Area Homeless Alliance identified 132 individuals living on the streets. In the 18-24 age group, they counted 40. In the same year, the people running the homeless youth count found 99 in that age group. Tanzer said that the actual number of homeless youth in Washoe County goes chronically underreported. One reason, she said, is that many young people decline to self-identify as homeless.

“We’re looking for any person that doesn’t have a fixed address,” Tanzer said. “And sometimes people don’t realize, that could be a bunch of dudes in a band that travel around and are couchsurfing and don’t have a permanent address. They actually qualify under HUD’s guidelines.”

Identifying youth in the 18 to 24 age range is important, said Tanzer, because people officially age out of the foster care system when they turn 18. Tanzer said they stand a significantly greater chance of experiencing chronic, lifelong homelessness if they don’t receive counseling before age 25.

“Realistically, most youth under the age of 24 only experience one to two bouts of homelessness and then go on to lead a rich and full life,” she said. “None of us are interested in feeding these kids and aging them out of our system and just moving them on to a lifetime of homelessness.”

In previous years, the homeless youth count has taken place at the plaza near the Century Riverside Theater downtown—a place known to many on the streets as “The Circle”—but this year it was held at the Eddy House.

Participants answered questions about their living, education and employment situations and were given food, clothing, toiletries, blankets, tents and flashlights from the Eddy House’s storeroom of donated goods. Participants could also get help with job-seeking, tutoring, mental health counseling, physicals, legal services and bus passes.

Alumni aid

The homeless youth count leads to more homeless young people learning about organizations like the Eddy House and NYEP and increases the chances that they’ll return for continuing care. Peer outreach increases the overall number of participants who arrive to be counted, some of whom then go on to take an active role in these organizations.

One of them is Liliana Ledezma, who stayed in the NYEP boarding house for a year when she turned 18 before starting her degree at University of Nevada, Reno.

“It sucks to see someone who is just like me, just struggling,” Ledezma said. “A lot of the residents either know people who are on the streets or were homeless themselves, so it kind of hits home for us.”

Ledezma acknowledged there are different levels of homelessness, and she found NYEP before her living situation required her to sleep on the streets. She was encouraged to volunteer for the Homeless Youth Count when she left NYEP and has worked the event for the past three years. She now studies community health science at UNR and hopes to find a job serving impoverished communities.

“I think Reno in general has a lot of issues, and I would like to help those that are in poverty or coming out of poverty, like lower income people,” Ledezma said. “I would love to use my skills with Spanish and reach that population.”