We are six high school students who live in Utah from diverse backgrounds. We are co-founders for Idea Factory, an entrepreneurship program where we learn how to take action on ideas we have a passion for. We believe art has the power to create a level ground within our community, so we are reaching out to homeless teenagers who have artistic skills. We want to break the distinct barrier between labels and stereotypes of the homeless population.
"I think putting labels on people is just an easy way of marketing something you don't understand." - Adam Jones
Facts
• 39% of the homeless population is youth under the age of 18 • An estimated 1.5 to 2.8 million homeless and street youth in America • If they all lived in one city, it would be the 7th largest city in the U.S. • 13 kids die on the streets every day from abuse, disease, and suicide. That's 5,000 kids in a year. • 1 in 7 kids between ages 10 and 18 will run away • The average age a teen becomes homeless is 14.7 years. Half of the homeless youth population is under the age of 18. • 46% of the homeless youth left their home because of physical abuse. 17% left because of sexual abuse. • Human trafficking of youth is the fastest growing crime