AKRON, Ohio — This is an important week for Summit County Continuum of Care as they’ve been busy tallying the number of youths and adults who are experiencing homelessness in their county.
“Everyone needs help sometimes, whether young [or] old, it’s okay to ask,” said Breanna Wesson, who’s a Youth Outreach Specialist.
The work you see Wesson doing here at Metro’s Transit Center in Akron has a special meaning for the 24-year-old mom.
“Originally, I was homeless for two and a half years,” said Wesson. “I was pregnant with my fourth baby. I was working; just trying to make sure I could get housing.”
Eventually, Wesson said she found her own housing, but she says the journey to getting there came with a lot of challenges.
“These shelters aren’t meant for youth, so I’m in shelters with people who are 50-60 years old, and I’m only 21-22 years old, so it’s kind of hard, you know, watching that,” said Wesson.
Summit County Continuum of Care Youth Coordinator Jada Moore said it can be hard for youth who are experiencing homelessness to find the care they need.
That’s why Moore and others are meeting youth in places like Metro’s Transit Center as they continue gathering data for their Point-In-Time Count.
“What we do with Point-In-Time Count is we survey individuals in our community who are housing insecure or literally street homeless,” Moore said.
Multiple outreach groups came together for the big Point-In-Time Count on Tuesday for youth and adults.
Moore said the data collection for youth will run until Friday so they can determine the need for housing and services.
“I can definitely speak for youth; we’re getting more numbers than we did last year,” said Moore.
While there could be a variety of reasons this youth number is up, Moore and Wesson said one possibility is that some people don’t know they identify as being homeless if they’re staying with a friend.
Homelessness can also look like a lack of support, which Mylasha King said she experienced.
“When I went back to college, I wasn’t homeless or anything like that. However, I did emancipate from foster care, and I feel like being in foster care at any point in time, that is a form of homelessness,” said King, who’s the Youth Advisory Board Chair.
Thanks to Summit County Continuum of Care, King says she’s moved passed this stage of her life, and now she gives back so others can do the same.
“I want people to feel inspired, like they can keep going and they’re able to ask for help,” said King.
Even though the Point-In-Time Count ends this Friday, Summit County Continuum of Care said its door is always open.
