Final

Jules Gouvin-Moffat and Rebecca Barnes

40% of homeless youth today are LGBTQ, most of which have become homeless due to familial rejection. Our goal was to address this disproportionate statistic in response to the lack of awareness and knowledge about the experiences of homeless youth. For our radio piece, we addressed the issue of LGBTQ homeless youth by conducting interviews with two LGBTQ shelter directors, who helped us better understand the struggles these teens face and how the shelters plan for protecting and helping them. Our interviews with program directors of LGBT youth shelters gave us great insight into the structure of the shelters and how they proceed to help homeless youth once they arrive in the shelter, as well as the risks youth face while on the streets and how street-based outreach helps to tend to their physical and mental health problems.