‘The Evergreen’: Youth homelessness presents unique challenges

By Julie Sabatier (OPB) and Tiffany Camhi (OPB)
March 25, 2024 1 p.m.
Memorials painted by young people at Portland’s homeless youth nonprofit Artist Mentorship Program, commemorate their friend Chris Tauanuu, who died in November, 2023.

Memorials painted by young people at Portland’s homeless youth nonprofit Artist Mentorship Program, commemorate their friend Chris Tauanuu, who died in November, 2023.

Tiffany Camhi / OPB

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Oregon has the highest rate of unaccompanied, unsheltered homeless youth in the nation, according to some recent federal data. But in some ways, these young people are invisible. They might be couch surfing or living out of a car, and many face homelessness when they age out of the foster care system. But these might not be the people you think of when you think about people experiencing homelessness.

OPB reporter Tiffany Camhi recently did a deep dive on the unique challenges facing young people who are homeless. She brings us some of the voices from her reporting as well as the details about a new program set up specifically to help unsheltered young people.

Listen to all episodes of “The Evergreen” podcast here.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
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Oregon has the highest rate of unaccompanied, unsheltered youth in the nation. Meanwhile, the support systems for people experiencing homelessness are underfunded and often neglect the unique needs of people living on the streets who are barely out of high school. Without family or trusted adults to turn to, young people experiencing homelessness in Oregon are learning it’s up to them to take care of themselves.