This is the article written about me for UrbaNation Magazine by Emary Johnston. It's called Young, Homeless, and Positive
Almost every person who has walked downtown Toronto has passed by and
glanced at the young, weathered body curled up on the edge of the side walk.
This is the stereotypical image that comes to mind when you think 'homeless'. Some will take a deeper look and see a vibrancy and innocence hidden under the dirt and hopeless expression on the face. Others will look no further than the rugged attire and assume laziness and rebellion has caused the teen to reside on the street.
For the ones that stick their nose up at homeless youth, it may come as a shock to see the actual faces that make up most of the young homeless population. Over seventy percent of them are products of abuse and were left no other choice but to flee their unsafe homes.
"Homelessness just happens," says Judy Leroux, the Development Manager of
Youths Without Shelter, a homeless shelter for young people located in Etobicoke.
"It can happen to anybody. Something terrible has happened in their life that has caused them to be in the situation that they are in. They come from all social, economic and cultural backgrounds."
Earlier this year, Samantha O’Connor sat at a table in a common area of Guelph Humber University creating a long to-do list that consisted of assignments required of her as a 3rd year Media Studies- Journalism student. The list included hand out resumes, study for midterms, and many other things a normal 20 year old student would do. She wore a clean, nicely put together outfit and her long hair was neatly pulled back. Strands of blonde curls hung down, framing a soft, pretty face.
Weeks earlier, O'Conner had to present a speech for one of her classes. Jaws dropped when she stood at the front of the room and said, "After class, most of you will head home to res or your parents house or your place with your roommates. But I'll be going to the YWCA for a bed and a warm meal." An upbringing in a dangerous environment with a bipolar and abusive mother has led O’Connor to where she is today.
"My mother used to have something she called 'the board of education' which was a 2x4 she used to beat me and my brothers with when we were bad," O'Connor says. Her mother is a rapid cycler, meaning her mood can change at any time. O'Connor kept herself busy with multiple jobs, school, and friends during the years she was forced to live at her mother's home in Ottawa. When she graduated from high school, she decided to move to Toronto to continue her education, in hopes of getting as far away from her parents as possible. During her first year of university she lived on campus. During the second, she resided with a boyfriend. When her and her boyfriend broke up, she moved out and she was forced to move back to Ottawa for the summer. Her plan was to stay at home and earn enough money so she was able to go back to Toronto and live on her own come September, but things didn't work out that way.
"I didn't last three weeks [there]," O'Connor says. Her mother had a bipolar attack and, without telling any friends or relatives, she packed up her things and spent the rest of the summer living in a small shelter with three other women. Her stay stretched into the fall and when she was ready to get back to school the shelter called around and was able to find her a bed at the YWCA in Toronto.
O'Connor's appearance, work ethic and high marks all go against the stereotypical description many people have of a homeless person. Her situation has caused her to be different than a lot of her peers as well. Most students can't wait for Friday afternoon to come, O'Connor can't say the same.
"I fiend the school," she says. "As much as I love seeing my friends and doing stuff on the weekends- I'm upset when the weekend comes. I am excited to be in school and doing the things I do because I feel like I'm succeeding."
Although O'Connor is constantly around people who have the advantage of a
supportive family, she does not feel envious of them.
"I'm lucky because I don't have to prove myself to any one but myself. I am my biggest motivation. I'm the one driving myself; I don't have anyone else on my back. I just do what I want to do. I'm free," she said.
Judy Leroux says that cases like O'Connor's are common.
"Many of the youths that stay in our shelter go to schools all over the city but they don't normally share this with their peers. What she [O'Connor] said in front of her class speaks very well to people who have this idea that homeless people always live out on the streets," she says.
According to Leroux, many people regard homeless youth as people who have been kicked out of their homes because of behavior. In reality, the majority of them are dealing with much bigger issues such as abuse, mental illness or neglect.
Art Tsang is the Planning and Evaluation Manager at Youth Without Shelter.
When he was 17, Tsang's abusive father relieved him from constant beatings by throwing him out of the house. Without hesitation he left and spent the next two years sleeping in abandoned cars and construction sights. He says one of the worst things was trying to survive the cold winter.
"You don't get much sleep, and you are never really warm," he says. "Your feet are in so much pain and you can barely walk sometimes. I remember the hardest part was trying to get the feeling back in my feet when I got up in the morning."
The entire time Tsang lived like this he attended high school and worked in a grocery store. He managed to salvage all of his belongings by storing them in five different lockers around his school and he would do his homework while riding back and forth on the subway. He kept his homelessness a secret from most of the people in his life. Eventually, a co-worker caught on when they noticed that Tsang seemed to have a never-ending cold. The co-worker brought him to Youth Without Shelter where he started down the path to getting his life back together.
Step by step, things got better for Tsang. He worked and saved up enough to
move out of the shelter and into his own apartment, and then eventually he was able to put himself through post secondary school. He graduated from the Social Service Worker program at Humber College and went on to obtain a degree in sociology at York University.
Despite some of the hardships he faced while being homeless, Tsang never regretted leaving his fathers house. He believed that living on the streets was easier than living with an abusive parent.
"You never knew what was going to happen when you walked in the door, and that constant fear was gone when I left home," says Tsang. "As tough as it was, living with the freedom was very appealing."
Tsang's unpleasant path brought him to his workplace which he feels very fortunate to be in. It has given him the opportunity to solve the issue of homeless youth on a macro scale. It's rewarding for him to see the individuals who do move forward as well. "What we do here is only a small part of a really huge issue. A lot of kids fall through the cracks and end up in jail, or dead," he says.
Leroux also believes that the issue is a significant one in our city. She says that in Canada an estimated 65,000 youth are currently homeless. This disregards the 'hidden homeless' who are the ones that surf from home to home or sleep unseen under bridges and other places.
"In one year there are an estimated 10,000 youth in Toronto who need a safe place to sleep. On any given night, there are 1,500 to 2,000 who need shelter," Leroux says.
Although the numbers speak loudly, the voices of the homeless are not always heard by the government and by the community. Leroux, O'Connor and Tsang all believe that the need for more resources for people without a home is high.
"I think people in general have the mentality: out of sight, out of mind. Just because you don't see homeless youth wandering the streets with signs doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist," says Tsang.
"I don't think throwing a lot of money at the issue will solve it. We need to isolate the specifics that have to be worked on, such as access to education achievement and resources for mental illnesses," he says.
O'Connor says resources for basic necessities such as shampoos, toothbrushes and towels, which all add up in cost, are lacking for people like her. She also says the issue of homelessness needs to be looked at more specifically.
"The word needs to spread about who these people are that live in shelters. They are just classified as 'homeless' but what types of people are they?" O'Connor says. "Homeless should be the last resort. There needs to be more resources for abused kids and immigrants and the different people who find their way to the shelters."
A number of misfortunes have led O'Connor to her shelter. However, she doesn't regret what has happened to her and where she is. "I have never been as motivated as I am right now. I've never worked so hard on school, ever, and my marks have never been so high."
O'Connor says she also has never done so much with her art, a passion and coping mechanism that stems from being locked in her room as a child for hours. She would have nothing to do but doodle- and eventually those doodles turned into great pieces of work. She also loves singing and dancing. She recently did a performance at Ryerson University in a talent show.
In the future, O'Connor wants to travel the world and experience every different culture. "I want to go experience what is out there, and find the real truths of the world for myself."
She feels that in the near future, her experiences of being homeless will be just a memory. For now, O'Connor plans on maintaining her positive attitude, exploring Toronto, and taking advantage of what is here.
"The city is my boyfriend," she says.
