Reality Check From Russell

There are an estimated 1.5 homeless children walking the streets of American cities alone of this 1.5 million there is an estimated 4,000 on any given day walking the streets of San Diego, California where IYN headquarters is located. The average age of these kids has been determined to be between the ages of nine and fifteen.

Each of these kids have their own story of why they are homeless among those stories are throwaway children by parents who could no longer afford them, mental, physical and sexual abuse at home or school.

The kids that are able to survive street life have their own way of surviving chief among them is selling their bodies to survive both female and male, theft and everything thrown in between.

Many of these kids do not have a clean set of clothes, no personal hygiene items, no way to shower and go without food for days.

They sleep with the elements, rain, snow, cold, hot, four legged predators and needless to say two legged predators as well.

How am I sure of this at the age of nine when my parents deserted me I was one of these kids.

One thing that you can count on with these kids they spend a great deal of time being afraid, scared, lonely and crying.

How can we not be there for these kids in every possible way.

Russell T. Hartsaw
Founder & Chairman
Invisible Youth Network 

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/default.aspx