Slipping Through the Cracks – Invisible Homeless Youth in San Jose

La Mar Williams didn’t grow up on the streets and was never in foster care. At age 24, La Mar is ineligible for most programs: he is too old for youth shelters and is uncomfortable with the older, mentally ill male population found at most adult homeless shelters. As the economic recession drags on, he is unable to find work, despite the range of skills he possesses, and has turned to friends for a place to stay as his unemployment benefits run out. La Mar is part of the invisible homeless youth population.

I checked out every state program I could find. Help for immigrant refugees, help for families, for women, for long-term homeless, for minors – nothing for an able-bodied man down on his luck. And when I say “down on his luck,” I mean it. I’ve been unemployed, with a few short stints of employment, for three-and-a-half years – so long I don’t qualify for unemployment.

Read his whole story on Silicon Valley De-Bug.

Posted November 29, 2010