Rob Hughes:
"The Monument Inn is one of the places Troy stayed. He didn't know where he would sleep next, or where his next meal would come from; but with positive mentors and a belief in himself, he's graduating high school and joining the Marine Corps."
"Our kids have seen some tremendously difficult times, and are really persevering regardless," says Cathy Haller, Prevention Services Coordinator with School District 51. Haller works with students like Troy.
"They're in school every day; they have wonderful attendance; they really know that education is their way out," says Haller. Haller says homeless teens aren't bad people. "Our teens are out of the home because it's not safe to be there, or they're throwaways, they've been kicked out by families," she says. Yet sometimes they have no choice. "It's not about easy money, it's about survival," says Haller.
People in the community will take advantage of them. "I sleep in a park and risk some kind of violence or at I at least have a roof over my head and food to eat, in exchange for drugs or sex," explains Haller.
But Troy chose to be an amazing success story, not a statistic. His advice for others in his shoes. "Look for help; because it's really hard to try and do it by yourself. The only reason I made it this far was because there was help," says Troy...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
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