Teen Homelessness in the Valley
Written by Victoria Scialfa on February 28, 2020
Teen Homelessness in the Valley
By Chloe Nouvelle
February 28, 2020
Not much is has changed over the past year for homeless young adults in the Lehigh Valley.
And as WLVR’s Chloe Nouvelle reports, the problem is getting worse.
In 2019, a street outreach team working for Bethlehem-based Valley Youth House helped 109 homeless teens and young adults in Lehigh and Northhampton counties alone.
That’s a record setting figure. One that Tim Joyce, a project coordinator for Valley Youth House, finds concerning.
“We look at performance measures and its like oh great- we served this many youth- but then, you step back and you – you say– why are we serving this many youth?” says Joyce.
Joyce says there are many reasons why a kid ends up on the street. Family conflict is one of the more common ones. And for teens that age out of the foster care system. They’re stuck struggling to make it on their own. Not a simple thing to do at 18-years-old in an area like the Lehigh Valley where rents can easily reach four figures.
Now, just two months in to 2020, Joyce says he expects to beat 2019’s record numbers.
Watch Chloe’s full PBS39 News Tonight Report.
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