The Home Stretch

The Homestretch

The summary of this movie, I thought it would be like every other documentary, boring. But, the opening caption stating that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 homeless children on the streets, just in Chicago really surprised me. Although many of these youths will find a place to sleep, many of them do not have homes. They don’t have clean clothes, toothbrushes, and the needed things to help them live what many people call an ordinary life.

Just in the Chicago schools there are over 19,000 children who are registered as homeless. They have even been given an official name “ Students in Temporary Living Situations”. Some of these students will go without a permanent or even temporary living situation before they can find a place to stay where they will have some of the necessities needed to carry on their daily lives. Schooling becomes quite hard for them especially if they are lacking nutritional and physical needs such as sleep. There are schools and people around those schools who are really making a big effort in order to help out with the homeless population, at least with those who have been identified as being in need. These youth are really struggling to better themselves and remain optimistic in a really bad situation.

Following the lives of these teens, and seeing some of the programs out there really broadens the horizons for those of us who have had or have a stable living situation. The worst part about this is that many of teens and youth are mental, physically, and even sexually abused while on the street. Shelters have become readily available, but they are only able to take so many in. Having a home environment that promotes and even encourages learning is a predictor of achievement for students. Without this type of environment, youth are not able to have that home life that is needed to become a successful member of society.

Teachers have begun to look for signs as missing class consistently, not completing classwork, failing classes and even getting into trouble as a predictor of a low success rate for homeless youth. Many of these youths will also begin to have issues such as health problems and there are some that will end up behind bars.

There are organizations such as The Crib, that can provide beds for only 20 children a night. Yes, there are other organizations around like this such as the Teen Living Programs’ Belfort house, which has a waiting list to get in, but these organizations do not have a fighting chance against the 19,000 homeless still out there. That is just a small drop in a really big ocean. Even on freezing nights, there will be homeless youth left out in the cold. That is where the Night Ministy comes in, at least twice a week they deliver food to the local homeless youth. That is a way that people are able to help alleviate some of the issues.