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Almost Home , livre ebook

Turner Publishing Company - Tina Kelley , Kevin Ryan

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139 pages

English

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Description

Inside the lives of homeless teens?moving stories of pain and hope from Covenant House

Almost Home tells the stories of six remarkable young people from across the United States and Canada as they confront life alone on the streets. Each eventually finds his or her way to Covenant House, the largest charity serving homeless and runaway youth in North America. From the son of a crack addict who fights his own descent into drug addiction to a teen mother reaching for a new life, their stories veer between devastating and inspiring as they each struggle to find a place called home.

Includes a foreword by Newark Mayor Cory Booker
Shares the personal stories of six homeless youths grappling with issues such as drug addiction, family violence, prostitution, rejection based on sexual orientation, teen parenthood, and aging out of foster care into a future with limited skills and no support system
Gives voice to the estimated 1.6 million young people in the United States and Canada who run away or are kicked out of their homes each year
Includes striking photographs, stories of firsthand experiences mentoring and working with homeless and troubled youth, and practical suggestions on how to get involved
Discusses the root causes of homelessness among young people, and policy recommendations to address them
Provides action steps readers can take to fight youth homelessness and assist individual homeless young people
Written by Kevin Ryan, president of Covenant House, and Pulitzer Prize nominee and former New York Times writer Tina Kelley

Inviting us to get to know homeless teens as more than an accumulation of statistics and societal issues, this book gives a human face to a huge but largely invisible problem and offers practical insights into how to prevent homelessness and help homeless youth move to a hopeful future. For instance, one kid in the book goes on to become a college football player and counselor to at-risk adolescents and another becomes a state kickboxing champion. All the stories inspire us with victories of the human spirit, large and small. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book will help support kids who benefit from Covenant House's shelter and outreach services.

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword by Cory Booker xi

Preface: Years to Understand the Light by Kevin Ryan xvii

Preface: Help and the Homing Instinct by Tina Kelley xxiii

Introduction 1

1 A Son Walks Alone: Paulie’s Story 12

Arriving at Covenant House 21

The Costs of Not Caring 39

Homeless, but Graduating 42

2 A Survivor Facing Her Future: Muriel’s Story 46

Arriving at Covenant House 56

Helping Trafficking Victims, Holding Exploiters Accountable 62

Fighting Back on Many Fronts 67

3 Moving Forward after Foster Care: Benjamin’s Story 72

Memories of Mistreatment 77

Working toward Mental Health 83

Arriving at Covenant House 88

Fixing Foster Care 107

4 A Homeless Teen Mother Reaching for a New Life: Creionna’s Story 115

Homelessness in New Orleans 120

Arriving at Covenant House 126

Help for Young Parents 138

5 A Teenager with Nowhere to Go and His Mentor: Keith’s and Jim’s Stories 153

Arriving at Covenant House 167

Keith's Thoughts on the Meaning of a Mentor 171

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg on Fostering Resilience through Mentoring 176

The Power of a Presence 178

6 Searching for Safety: Meagan’s Story 182

Arriving at Covenant House 191

Meagan on Her Moms and Her Future 197

Helping LGBTQ Youth 199

7 Separate Paths Uniting: Paulie Revisited 201

The Death of Decal 206

8 What You Can Do: Steps to Help Homeless Young People Thrive 210

Mentoring 210

Anti-Traffi cking Efforts 211

Supporting LGBTQ Youth 212

Advocacy Work 213

In the Community 214

What You Can Do from Your Computer 216

On the Home Front 216

Keep Us Posted 217

To Learn More 217

Epilogue 219

Notes 221

Index 224

Photo gallery begins on page 143

Sujets

Social Science

Sociologie, société et politique

Homelessness

Almost Home

Poverty

LGBT

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	21 août 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781118282953
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0900€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface: Years to Understand the Light
Preface: Help and the Homing Instinct
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Son Walks Alone
Arriving at Covenant House
Homeless, but Graduating
Chapter 2: A Survivor Facing Her Future
Arriving at Covenant House
Fighting Back on Many Fronts
Chapter 3: Moving Forward after Foster Care
Arriving at Covenant House
Fixing Foster Care
Chapter 4: A Homeless Teen Mother Reaching for a New Life
Arriving at Covenant House
Help for Young Parents
Chapter 5: A Teenager with Nowhere to Go and His Mentor
Arriving at Covenant House
The Power of a Presence
Chapter 6: Searching for Safety
Arriving at Covenant House
Helping LGBTQ Youth
Chapter 7: Separate Paths Uniting
Chapter 8: What You Can Do
Mentoring
Anti-Trafficking Efforts
Supporting LGBTQ Youth
Advocacy Work
In the Community
What You Can Do from Your Computer
On the Home Front
Keep Us Posted
To Learn More
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Photo gallery begins on page 143 .

Dedicated to the young people who struggle on the streets, and the loving adults who lift them up
Copyright 2012 by Covenant House. All rights reserved
Interior photos: Timothy Ivy
The lines from The Opening of Eyes, from Songs for Coming Home , by David Whyte, are printed with permission from Many Rivers Press, http://www.davidwhyte.com , Many Rivers Press, Langley, Washington.
Cover image: Jan Sonnenmair
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit us at www.wiley.com .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data :
Ryan, Kevin.
Almost home : helping kids move from homelessness to hope / Kevin Ryan and Tina Kelley.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-23047-3 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-28698-2 (ebk);
ISBN 978-1-118-28295-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-28403-2 (ebk)
1. Homeless children-United States. 2. Homeless youth-United States. 3. Homeless children-Canada. 4. Homeless youth-Canada. I. Kelley, Tina. II. Title.
HV4505.R798 2012
362.77 56920820973-dc23
2012017212
Acknowledgments
We could never have written this book without the openness and generosity of the six young people who told us their life stories. They spent hundreds of hours walking and talking with us for much of the past three years, and we are deeply grateful. Their stories would have been far different without the devotion and dedication of the men and women who cared for them and about them, day in and day out, including the counselors and other staff members of Covenant House who also shared their time and insights with us.
We heard in the voices of so many kids a burgeoning hope that is the legacy of Sister Mary Rose McGeady, D.C., and Jim Harnett, who spent most of their lives fighting for homeless and forgotten young people. They kept company with those who lit the way forward as stewards of this movement to end the exploitation and suffering of young people, including Dorothy McGuinness, Joan Lambert, Bob Cardany, Bruce Henry, Sister Tricia Cruise, Pat Connors, Priscilla and Dick Marconi, Bill and Peggy Montgoris, L. Edward and Irene Shaw, Ralph and Jane Pfeiffer, Dick and Priscilla Schmeelk, Brian D. McAuley, and Denis P. Coleman.
We hold great esteem for men and women across Canada and the United States who devote part of their lives to loving other people s children and giving them alternatives to street life. This is especially true for the Covenant House staff, who do difficult and incredible work, every day of the year.
Our agent, Andrew Blauner, one of our first and most important yay-sayers, buoyed us when we needed it, and Tom Miller, our editor at Wiley, believed in this project in a way that touched us deeply. We are beyond grateful to them. C. Allen Parker, Esq., Paul Saunders, Esq., Stuart Gold, Esq., and their colleagues at Cravath, Swaine Moore, and the constant, patient, and wise John Ducoff, Esq., provided us expert legal advice and were advocates of the first order for our work. Liz Lewis, Jayne Bigelsen, Mary Ann Simulinas, Elisabeth Lean, Molly Ladd, and the Covenant House Institute provided research assistance; Patrice Ingra juggled schedules with inimitable good humor; and it s safe to say we were each blessed with a coauthor of great good cheer and endurance.
We are deeply indebted to the experts who shared their original research and wisdom with us, from across two countries, including those who are mentioned in these pages and so many others-experts in the kids we write about; experts in the care of the mind, the heart, and the spirit; and experts in wise policies for the benefit of young people. Thanks for your insights and for helping us reach the conclusions we did.
Across Canada and the United States, Covenant House executive directors opened our eyes to the suffering of homeless young people in their states and provinces, and we are thankful to each of them: Allison Ashe in Georgia, Dan Brannen in the District of Columbia, Ruth daCosta and Bruce Rivers in Toronto, Deirdre Cronin in Alaska, Jim Gress in Florida, Cordella Hill in Pennsylvania, Sam Joseph in Michigan, Jim Kelly in Louisiana, Jerry Kilbane and Jim White in New York, George Lozano in California, Ronda G. Robinson in Texas, Jill Rottmann in New Jersey, Krista Thompson in Vancouver, and Sue Wagener in Missouri.
We developed an abiding esteem for the great human rights activists who inspired us in their fight against child trafficking, including Menin Capellin, Carolina Escobar Sarti, Maria Jose Arguello, Sofia Almazan, Hugh Organ Sr., Nancy Brown, Norma Ramos, Andrea Powell, and Rachel Lloyd.
Thanks to Tyler Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, Natalie Grant, and Laura Bush, who helped us over the last three years to reach so many more kids, and to Cory Booker for his passion and vision.
We are grateful to our friend Jim Burke, who generously gave us a peaceful place to write and meet in the summer of 2011, and to the talented and good-humored Timothy Ivy, whose photographs reveal the heart and power of the special young people of Covenant House in New York.
We are thankful to the board of Covenant House International: Phil Andryc, Barbara P. Bush, Andrew P. Bustillo, John F. Byren, Brian M. Cashman, Paul A. Danforth, Mark J. Hennessy, Capathia Y. Jenkins, Tracy S. Jones-Walker, Drew A. Katz, Janet M. Keating, Thomas M. McGee, Brian T. BT McNicholl, Anne M. Milgram, Karla Mosley, Liz Murray, John C. Pescatore, Brother Raymond Sobocinski, Thomas D. Woods, and Strauss Zelnick. And to the board members of Covenant Houses across Canada and the United States, thank you for your dedication to creating opportunities for children and youth.
To the millions of special people who have contributed to the Covenant House movement, believing that every young person deserves the opportunity to shine, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, thank you. Huge thanks to our Broadway friends for inspiring us with their time, talent, and dedication to homeless young people, especially the multitalented Neil Berg and Rita Harvey, John Asselta, Dan Walker, Carter Calvert and Roger Cohen, Lawrence Clayton, Natalie Toro, Rob Evan, Danny Zolli, Ron Bohmer and Sandra Joseph, Craig Schulman, Al Greene, and our beloved Capathia.
We thank our friends and family who provided invaluable feedback, guidance, and moral support: Liz Alanis, Molly Armstrong, Neela Banerjee, Lynn and Tom Benediktsson, Elaine Bennett, Abraham Bergman, Alison Brosnan, Lou Carlozo, Lisa Chang, Eileen Crummy, Meredith Fabian, Dan Froomkin, Scott Hamilton, Peggy Healy ( abrazos ), Tom Kennedy, Taisha Kullman, Carlette Mack, Frith Maier, Rylee Maloles, Tom Manning, Dan McCarthy, Peggy McHale, Diane Milan, Robin Nagle, Barbara, Jerry, and Livia Newman, John O Brien, Karl Pettijohn, Jeanne Pinder, Susan Plum (our tireless friend and reader), Ruben Porras, Tom Potenza, Susan Rabiner, Lee Roberts, Vera Roche, Tim Ryan, Em