Part-Time Student, Full-Time Homeless
Michael is 19, transgender and homeless. He is trying to complete community college but facing some tough challenges. Transgender youth of color represent a disproportionate amount of homeless youth on the streets in Seattle. (Spark Public/KSCT9)
Published May 19th, 2018 at 6:00 AM
Washington has an invisible problem: College students face homelessness in some of the biggest numbers anywhere.
Michael is 19, transgender, and homeless. As a transgender person of color, Michael embodies some of the most sobering data on who is impacted by homelessness. Most estimates put LGBTQ people at less than 7 percent of the population. Yet a 2017 county survey found that 29 percent of homeless youth identified as LGBTQ. The same report found that people of color represent about 53 percent of homeless youth, despite people of color only accounting for 29 percent of King County, Washington’s total population.
This video is from our public media friends at Spark Public.
Follow Our Project
Kansas City PBS and its digital magazine, Flatland, are gathering in-depth reporting and engagement around affordable housing in the metro. Watch for resources, ways to get involved, and more reporting at our project main page, Public Works? A Level Foundation.
— Follow Flatland @FlatlandKC