Nov. 6, 2014 issue 10 Loquitur

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PB&J NIGHT: MAKING A DIFFERENCE, ONE SANDWICH AT A TIME

KE$HA CLAIMS PRODUCER ABUSED HER

NO FOLES, NO PROBLEM FOR THE EAGLES

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YOU SPEAK WE LISTEN PACEMAKER WINNER

THELOQUITUR.COM

VOL. LVI, ISSUE 10

THURSDAY, NOV. 6, 2014

Homeless teens are faced with mental illness BY LILLIAN HURLEY Staff Writer The Covenant House is an organization that helps to protect the rights and lives of homeless youth. They work with homeless youth to provide them with the basic rights of food, a safe environment and an understanding about their lives. According to covenanthouse.org, around 2 million youth will experience some type of homelessness every year. Homeless youth often suffer from mental illness. This can be due to the trials and tribulations they have faced in their young lives. The situations that these youth have faced lead to them developing mental illness such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and. In regards to mental illness Covenant House compares it to the dangers that homeless youth face on the streets by saying “Many more are victims of a hidden and insidious danger that lurks over them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: severe psychological stress.” Youth that are faced with the challenges of mental illness is something that needs assistance. CONTINUE READING ON PAGE 4 PHOTO SUBMITTED BY JAMESHELDPHOTOGRAPHY

Homeless man in Baltimore, Md. painting on cardboard boxes to earn money.

Youth face hardships under foster care system BY SAMANTHA JACOBS Staff Writer

GRAPHIC DESIGNED BY JOEY RETTINO

The foster care system often condemns young adults to lives full of hardships that other young adults do not have to face. That is what freshmen in ECG 100 with Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown, associate professor of English, earn through taking an in-depth look at the system and the lives it has touched. “I believe that with knowledge comes power, and by continuing to be educated and raising awareness about aging out can only help the foster youth that fall

victim to homelessness, drug addiction, human trafficking, prostitution, gang violence, and so much more,” said freshman Lauren Weisbecker who is currently in the class. Imagine at only 18 years of age you have no adult in your life who can pay for your food and shelter you so you drop out of school to get a minimum wage job in a rundown corner store. You cannot really afford a place to live, food, or health care and there is no one supporting you besides yourself unlike other 18-year-olds that can rely on family to ensure their basic needs are still met.

The stories of youth facing the troubles of foster care vary but according to Filling-Brown their stories often include being separated from siblings, being placed in multiple homes, and having trouble keeping up in school. Through her work with the Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board she is able to share with her class the stories from people who have suffered through the flaws in the foster care system. In her ECG 100, class Filling-Brown also teaches students about how the foster care system is not running the way it was intended to work.

“The biggest problem is that the foster care system is not supposed to be a permanent solution, but many youth languish within the system for years,” said Filling-Brown. According to the website for the Covenant House, whose international president, Kevin Ryan, was the most recent Executive-in-Residence on campus, 20,000 young adults outgrow the program and are forced to find a way to fend for themselves.

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