‘I’m on edge all day long.’ Schoolwork a mere afterthought for homeless youth - The Hechinger Report

‘I’m on edge all day long.’ Schoolwork a mere afterthought for homeless youth - The Hechinger Report

‘I’m on edge all day long.’ Schoolwork a mere afterthought for homeless youth
As homeless youth attempt to shelter in place without a shelter, taking care of their basic needs and ingratiating themselves with their hosts take priority over distance learning.

On a recent weekend, Destiny, 17, spent an unusually sunny spring day canoeing near her temporary home in Western Washington. Technically homeless, Destiny has been staying with her grandmother. She went to sleep that night on the living room couch with a slight ache in her throat.

She woke with a start the next morning, drenched in sweat, with a fever over 100, her throat nearly completely closed.

Lacking a car to get to a nearby clinic, her grandmother dialed 911 for an ambulance. Paramedics quickly arrived, wearing face masks and shields and full-body hazmat suits.

“They were talking so loud because they couldn’t hear themselves,” Destiny said. “They came in, grabbed me and took me out to the fire truck. They kept telling me everything was OK, but I was in tears. I was so scared.”

At the hospital, nurses interrogated her: Where had she last traveled, who did she see in person recently, any signs of a cough? “When I didn’t give them the info they were looking for, they just stuck the swabs up my nose,” Destiny said. CONTINUE READING: ‘I’m on edge all day long.’ Schoolwork a mere afterthought for homeless youth - The Hechinger Report