Nonfiction
I WAS
”
HOMELESS
“
At least 1.3 million
homeless children live
in the United States.
Kevin Liu was one of them.
By Kristin Lewis | Research contributed by Jane Bianchi
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Scholastic Scope • NOVEMBER 2013
“
NARR
ATiVE
NONFICTIO
Reads
N
like
but it’s fiction—
all tru
e
W
here do
you live?”
What challenges do the
This is the
homeless face?
question
that filled 11-year-old Kevin Liu with dread. How
could he answer? Sometimes he would change the
subject. Other times he would give a vague reply.
A few times he flat-out lied. But he never, ever told
his friends the full truth: He didn’t have a home.
AS YOU READ,
THINK ABOUT:
the way you imagine. They are not
unwashed or wearing worn-out
clothing or standing on the side of
the road with a cardboard sign. In
fact, you may see a homeless
person every day and have no idea.
The majority of homeless people
look just like you.
Many paths can lead to
homelessness: unemployment,
mental illness, an unexpected
sickness. These are problems
almost anyone can relate to. Do
Until fifth grade, Kevin lived
with his parents and his younger
the family’s belongings still inside.
Legally, landlords can’t just kick
How about someone who got sick
brother, Ka-ren, in Chinatown, a
people out of their homes. A
and had an expensive hospital
bustling neighborhood in
landlord must first go to court,
stay? Hopefully, the people you
downtown New York City famous
where a judge decides if eviction is
know had someone they could turn
for its vibrant Chinese culture,
allowed. What’s more, landlords
to when they needed help, such as
hopping markets, and delicious
are required to give renters a
a friend or relative.
restaurants. Kevin’s parents ran a
reasonable amount of time to
successful shop that sold groceries
move. But Kevin’s parents spoke
does not have that support
and candies and had arcade games
little English, and they did not
structure? One crisis can quickly
for kids. Kevin and Ka-ren helped
know their rights. The idea of
spiral out of control, causing that
out, working the cash register and
taking their landlord to court
person to fall behind on housing
making change for customers. The
seemed daunting and expensive.
payments or become unable to pay
family rented a modest studio
And so in one devastating day, they
at all. For Kevin’s parents, the crisis
apartment above the store.
lost their home and their business.
was getting unfairly evicted. They
They had no money, no jobs,
didn’t have enough money to rent
At the time, Kevin didn’t think of
himself as happy or comfortable.
But what happens if someone
and nowhere to go.
a new apartment in New York City,
where renters are generally
Life just seemed normal.
Then, just before Kevin started
sixth grade, everything changed.
One day, the landlord told
Tim Soter Photography
you know someone who lost a job?
Homelessness in America
In the United States, more than
630,000 people are homeless on
required to make a large
payment—usually thousands of
dollars—before they can move in.
Kevin’s family they had to leave—
any given day—and those are just
Experiencing a crisis is just one
immediately. The building was
the ones we know about. Experts
part of the picture of homelessness.
being renovated, and they had to
say that there are likely millions
Ultimately, the number one cause
go. Locks were placed on the
more. Most of these men, women,
of homelessness is a lack of
family’s shop and apartment, with
and children probably don’t look
affordable housing—that is,
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www.Scholastic.com/Scope • NOVEMBER 2013
5
apartments that
middle- and lower-
ESSAY
Are We Doing Enough?
T
he Indian civil-rights leader Mahatma Gandhi once
said, “The measure of a civilization is how it treats its
comfortably afford.
weakest members.”
Over the past decade,
How do we in the United States measure up?
the cost of homes in
Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was widely
major American cities
believed that the poor had brought their misfortune upon
has skyrocketed. As a
themselves. When people lost their jobs or got sick, they had
result, the number of
to rely on their families to help them. If their families couldn’t—or wouldn’t—
homeless families in
assist, these people often wound up on the streets.
big cities has risen
Attitudes and policies began to change after the Great Depression in the
drastically. Since 2002,
1930s. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “war on poverty,”
the number of
and the government created dozens of programs for Americans in need. These
homeless families in
programs, which are still in place today, range from school meals, which feed
New York has
millions of kids, to Medicare, which provides health care to senior citizens.
increased by 73
There are also hundreds of private organizations that rely on donations to help
percent, according to
the poor.
the Coalition for the
America has a far stronger safety net than many nations. But are we doing
Homeless. In
enough? Consider this: Of the richest 35 nations in the world, the U.S. has the
Washington, D.C., the
second-highest rate of child poverty (after Romania), and one in six Americans
number of homeless
lives in poverty. At the same time, there is growing debate about whether we
families has doubled
should cut back on
in the past five
Today, one in six
government programs
years.
Americans lives
for the poor. Some say
in poverty.
too many Americans
The Ordeal
rely on the government
Kevin’s family
for help. A lot of
eventually moved
assistance programs
into a shelter in
have already been
downtown
cut back.
Manhattan (and
What would Gandhi
were able to
say to this? And what
retrieve their
do you think?
income families can
belongings). They
received a tiny
room with bunk beds; the
and dehumanizing experience,
in shelters. Being homeless is
bathroom was shared with the
characterized by uncertainty and
particularly hard on kids. Studies
other families on their floor.
trauma. Homeless people must
show that homeless children are
struggle to survive with almost
under constant stress. They get sick
place to stay and free food to eat.
nothing. They tend to be
frequently, have a hard time in
But their ordeal was just beginning.
undernourished. And they are
school, and, like Kevin, tend to feel
frequent victims of robbery, even
a deep sense of shame and isolation
They were relieved to have a
Being homeless is a frightening
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Scholastic Scope • NOVEMBER 2013
Dinodia Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images (Top); © I Love Images/Corbis (Bottom)
houses and
from their classmates. Life can be
for residents to cook their own
Kevin says. “He’d say, ‘Hey, Jackie
very lonely for kids in shelters.
meals. Food poisoning was a
Chan,’ or ‘Hey, Jet Li.’” Wisely,
They can’t simply invite their
constant worry. Kevin’s mom
Kevin chose to ignore him as best
friends over after school to play
would order inexpensive takeout
he could, focusing instead on the
video games or do homework.
whenever she could—until she got
day his family would get to leave.
Homelessness was certainly
a crockpot, which was technically
stressful for Kevin. His grades
Every time Kevin came to the
fear that his family would never
noisy, hot, and dirty. (With so
shelter after school, he had to go
again have a home of their own.
many people passing through,
past security guards. Even going to
even the most well-maintained
the bathroom was a horrifying
Many families in the shelter
shelters are difficult to keep clean.)
experience. There was no privacy.
system end up staying much
The food, Kevin says, was
The showers and toilet stalls were
longer than they intend. “It’s very
“disgusting”; there was no place
all in the same room. Often, Kevin
hard to get out of homelessness,”
Homelessness in America
A Snapshot
20
out of every 10,000
people in the U.S.
are homeless.
243,627
homeless persons are
reported to be living on
the streets, in cars, or in
abandoned buildings.
www.istockphoto.com
turning to years, Kevin began to
against the rules.
began to drop. The shelter was
But as the months dragged on,
(The true number is impossible
to count; there are likely many,
many more.)
133
out of every 10,000
people in Washington,
D.C., are homeless.
That’s the highest rate of
homelessness in the U.S.
29
states reported
an increase
in homelessness
from 2011
to 2012.
Source: “The State of Homelessness in America 2013”
by The National Alliance to End Homelessness
Kevin’s family wasn’t alone.
found excrement in
says Megan Hustings, a
the showers or
spokesperson for the National
smeared on the
Coalition for the Homeless.
walls.
“Especially in the bigger cities,
Then some of
trying to save up for rent when
the kids began
you’re working in a minimum
picking on him.
wage job is very difficult.”
While he was in the
shower, they would
turn off the lights
Homeless, Not Hopeless
Across the U.S., many
or open the curtain.
communities do reach out to help
“I can still hear
their most needy. Food drives and
them laughing in
clothing donations can make a big
my head,” Kevin
difference. Several nonprofit
remembers. One
groups, like the international
boy in particular
charity Habitat for Humanity, build
tried to make
affordable housing, while other
Kevin’s life
groups, like the HOPE program in
miserable,
New York, help those in poverty
belittling Kevin
find better-paying jobs.
and even going so
It was through one of these
far as to demand
groups that Kevin found a glimmer
money from
of hope. In seventh grade, after he
Kevin’s mom.
had been living in the shelter for
“He’d make fun
more than a year, Kevin started
of me because
going to an after-school program
there were only two
called Bound for Success. The
Asian families in
program was run by the
the whole shelter,”
Coalition for the Homeless.
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www.Scholastic.com/Scope • NOVEMBER 2013
7
“It was a quiet place where I
But he couldn’t bring himself to
It would be years, though,
could do my homework or play
tell his school friends the truth. “I
before Kevin let go of the shame
music or do arts and crafts,” he
felt like I could never truly be
he felt during his time in the
says. “It was an escape from all the
myself and open up to my friends
shelter. When he turned 17 this
craziness of being in a cramped
because I carried around this
past April, he decided to confide in
shelter with people I didn’t know
secret,” he says.
his friend Jason.
or like.” The program, which serves
“I thought, ‘If he turns his back
A New Beginning
30 homeless children at a time,
offers free tutoring, field trips, and
above all, a safe place to hang out.
Just before Kevin started high
school, he finally got the news
on me, then he isn’t a true friend,’”
Kevin explains.
It turns out that Jason was a
Thanks to the Coalition, Kevin’s
he’d been so desperately waiting
true friend. He was shocked that
grades began to improve. He even
for. After three long and difficult
Kevin had carried around such a
made a few friends at the shelter.
years in the shelter, his family had
secret for so many years, but he
Kevin and his dad
in their new home
been given an
didn’t treat Kevin any differently.
apartment through a
The conversation went so well
program that helps
that Kevin began telling more of
needy families with
his friends.
their rent.
“When I found out
Today, Kevin is doing better
than ever. He is a senior in high
we were moving, I
school. His mom has a job as an
was so relieved and
aid in a school cafeteria (though
excited that I
his father is still looking for work).
practically jumped
Kevin dreams of going to college
up and down,” Kevin
and becoming an actor. He spends
recalls. “We have two
his free time volunteering at the
rooms now, one
after-school program that helped
bathroom that we
him so much when he was in
don’t have to share
middle school.
with strangers, and
“I want to help other kids who
our own kitchen, so
are going through the same thing
we can cook our own
as I did,” Kevin explains.
food. It’s so much
“Sometimes I’ll help them with
cleaner than the
their homework or play basketball
shelter, and it’s so
with them. I hope they look at me
nice to have privacy
and see how well I’m doing now
again.”
and think: I can do that too.”
•
Think about the state of homelessness in America. What challenges do the homeless face? In what
ways does society help and how could we do more? Write two to three paragraphs answering these
questions. Use text evidence from ‘I Was Homeless,’ the infographic, and the essay to
support your ideas. Send your response to HOMELESSNESS CONTEST. Five winners will
each receive a copy of Money Hungry by Sharon G. Flake. See page 2 for details.
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activity
Online
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Scholastic Scope • NOVEMBER 2013
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writing contest