If You See Them: Young, Unhoused, and Alone in America

A moving exploration of the urgent, largely unrecognized tragedy of unhoused youth in America told through the inspiring story of a woman working to address the crisis.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that there are 1.7 unaccompanied (homeless) youth in the U.S. annually--a number that we know is a gross understatement. These are youth who don't want to be found, who are afraid of living at home but also afraid of the foster system; they have run away from home, or often their parents have abandoned them. They are kids in your children's schools, who join the basketball team so that they have a place to shower; whose school breakfasts and lunches get them through the days. They sleep on friends' couches, in parks, on streets. With no access to government IDs or parental signatures, they can't get jobs or drivers' licenses or apply to college--they are outside of the system with no safety net and no adult guidance.

Vicki Sokolik was a suburban stay-at-home mom when her son brought home a friend from school, an A student who had left her unsafe home and was couch surfing, working at a local fast-food restaurant, and thinking of dropping out. Sokolik had been volunteering among the homeless population in Tampa, Florida, for years, delivering Thanksgiving dinners to homeless families. But she hadn't been aware of the invisible population of young people until then.

IF YOU SEE THEM is a powerful and moving exploration of the issue of youth homelessness, told through the perspective and experience of one woman who has been at the forefront of an effort to not only bring the issue to light but to change laws in order to emancipate these young people and give them agency. It tells her own inspiring story of advocacy--or coming to recognize a problem and then founding a non-profit, Start Right, Now, that provides housing stability, academic support, food, and life-skill classes for kids, helping them become independent. But it also allows the youth to speak in their own voices and tell their own stories.

We learn of the myriad challenges faced by teenagers trapped in cycles of instability and precarity--victims of intergenerational poverty, neglect, racism, homophobia, domestic and sexual abuse, addiction, self-harm--who are hiding in plain sight. An inspiring story of grassroots action and social justice, IF YOU SEE THEM shows the world-shifting power of unconditional love, care, and shelter, and the capacity each of us has to change our communities for the better.