Homelessness & Justice Project_01Homelessness & Justice Project_01For the last year, Youth Today and the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange have been writing about youth experiencing homelessness, particularly in the Seattle area. This collection is some of our favorite photos from that coverage.
Here, a chalkboard sign welcomes young people outside Cocoon House in Everett, Wash.
Photo: Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut
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Homelessness & Justice Project_04Homelessness & Justice Project_04LaTonya Pratt-Shelby provides a host home to a teen who would otherwise be homeless through the King County Youth Engagement Team and Accelerator YMCA.
Photo: Karen Ducey
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Homelessness & Justice Project_05Homelessness & Justice Project_05LaTonya Pratt-Shelby plays cards with a teen after she comes home from school. She receives $350 each month to help with food and other expenses.
Photo: Karen Ducey
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Homelessness & Justice Project_06Homelessness & Justice Project_06Nataya Foss is the chair of the Snohomish County Youth Action Committee, which provides oversight for the county's federally funded Youth Homelessness.
Photo: Arts West
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Homelessness & Justice Project_07Homelessness & Justice Project_07“I’d get out of juvie and I’d already know, well, I’m going to be back to juvie soon,” said David Vanwetter. “But what I didn’t know was how to not be homeless.”
Photo: Paul Joseph Brown
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Homelessness & Justice Project_08Homelessness & Justice Project_08David Vanwetter skateboards in Seattle during a recent period of housing instability. Vanwetter, now 21, cycled between detention and homelessness throughout his teens. He has settled into a new apartment after several weeks of upheaval.
Photo: Paul Joseph Brown
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Homelessness & Justice Project_09Homelessness & Justice Project_09Christina Valera, a program specialist with the Washington state office of Juvenile Rehabilitation, speaks with a teenager to help him plan his transition back to society after release from the criminal justice system.
Photo: Karen Ducey
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Homelessness & Justice Project_10Homelessness & Justice Project_10A new Washington state fund is helping, Christina Valera said, but “Juvenile Rehabilitation is not going to end homelessness by itself.”
Photo: Karen Ducey
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Homelessness & Justice Project_11Homelessness & Justice Project_11Keaton Hohl (left) practices steering on his first sailing trip. The voyage on Seattle’s Lake Union is a chance to talk about his drinking with Johnny Ohta (right), a chemical dependency specialist who works with homeless youth.
Photo: Allegra Abramo
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Homelessness & Justice Project_12Homelessness & Justice Project_12Johnny Ohta pedals his bike through traffic. He almost always uses it for transportation, giving him the ability to quickly connect with teenagers and young adults throughout Seattle.
Photo: Matt McKnight/Crosscut
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Homelessness & Justice Project_13Homelessness & Justice Project_13Johnny Ohta and Lea Weber, a case manager at New Horizons, embrace during an impromptu visit by Ohta to the office. “I used to work with Johnny at YouthCare’s Orion Center,” says Weber. “He’s always supported and inspired me in this line of work, he’s the reason I’m still doing this.”
Photo: Matt McKnight/Crosscut
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Homelessness & Justice Project_14Homelessness & Justice Project_14Johnny Ohta encounters Fox, 20, in front of Brooklyn Square in Seattle’s University District. Fox has been clean now for approximately three weeks, and is planning to move to Florida and study sound design at a university. Ohta later holds a conference call with the university and several youth providers to discuss the reality of the situation for someone like Fox, moving far away without support.
Photo: Matt McKnight/Crosscut
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Youth Photos, Youth Focus: A project by the nonprofit Center for Sustainable Journalism
