|
Like most 18-year-olds girls, Liz giggles about boyfriends, loves
chocolate and is thinking about college. But there are a few things
she has to take care of fast: finding a job, finding a home and finding
a way to take care of her unborn child.
 |
|
by William C. Moore - The Metropolitan
|
| Jason, left, and Liz, right, who declined to
give their last names, "fly a sign" on the corner of
Broadway and Evans Nov. 16. Liz, seven months pregnant, receives
assistance from Urban Peak, a metro Denver teen shelter for homeless
and runaway teens. |
Liz is homeless and seven months pregnant.
“Sometimes my mom will come by and take me to church. But then
she drops me off at Urban Peak,” she said. “I went to
church (last Sunday) with her because I wanted to see my nieces and
nephews.” Liz is the middle child of the family with two sisters
and a half-brother.
Urban Peak is a homeless shelter for teenagers and young adults 16
to 21 years old. At 50 beds, it is one of the largest teen-oriented
shelters in the Denver Metro area.
Liz’s mother offered her the couch in her Aurora home, “but
my sister told me it’s so she can try and take care of the baby.
And if she cares for the baby, she could try and take custody away
from me,” Liz said. Liz is determined that she, not Social Services
or her mother, will raise her child. Liz admits her relationship with
her mother, stepfather and the baby’s biological father is strained.
The baby’s father is in Colorado Springs, “He’s
not much more better off than me,” Liz said. “He just
lies around on his mom’s couch wishing I had the abortion.”
She is looking into getting child-support from him.
“I try and help out. I want to get a job and a place for us
and the baby,” said Jason, Liz’s friend as he “flies
a sign” on the Northwest corner of Broadway and Evans.
They met at Urban Peak about four months ago and began hanging out
with each other.
Both carry all of their belongings in two backpacks. The Urban Peak
has lockers, but security is a concern because a lot of things are
stolen, they said. And last week ‘meth’ was found during
a locker sweep.
 |
|
by William C. Moore - The Metropolitan
|
| Jason spends his nights by the railroad tracks
off of Santa Fe and Florida on a mattress covered by six blankets. |
Not long ago Jason, 23, was kicked out of Urban Peak. He’s
still in need of some help but he’s too old to get it from Urban
Peak. The center checks age requirements to provide assistance. Until
he has a place to call home he “squats” in front of the
No Trespassing sign with a tattered layer of blankets, a weathered
mattress and a broken box spring near the railroad tracks off Florida
and Santa Fe Drive. He misses cooking and eating hot meals.
For most of the day Liz sits with Jason as they try to raise money,
but lately she has had to leave for her doctor’s appointments.
Liz travels to Kipling and Wadsworth at least once a week. Liz is
getting her prenatal care through Medicaid and other donations from
drivers stopped at a red light.
Many drivers are concerned that the young pair are using money for
drugs. Both say they are alcohol and drug-free.
Liz is steadfast in her goal of getting a job and a home to prove
to the State of Colorado she is a fit mother and can care for her
baby.
“I tried to go to Parks College, but they only offer a two-week
maternity leave,” she said. She doesn’t have the means
for child care to continue her education. “I can type, work
a switchboard, and I would like to get into medical billing,”
she said.
Jason blames the aftermath of 9/11 on his homelessness. He drove
a cab in Orlando, Fla., but after 9/11, tourism hit a record low.
Jason realized he was a few paychecks from being homeless. He lost
his phone, lights and finally his apartment.
He and an ex-girlfriend moved to Denver and stayed with her family,
but once they broke up he hit the streets in search of work.
If trying to find work with a college degree is a hassle, try being
armed with only a G.E.D. Jason has a background in ceramic tile installation
and construction, but he’s hopeful. “A guy stopped by
here last week about some construction work and gave me his card,”
he said.
Liz attended Thornton High School, but did not graduate. She completed
a G.E.D. Before her pregnancy, she tried day labor.
“The biggest job they (day labor) had was the snow storm this
year,” Liz remembers. “It was a bunch of homeless people
shoveling snow off the streets. I got so sick, because I was sleeping
in a parking garage.”
She ended up in the hospital and after she was treated was sent to
a shelter. She liked the clean shelter and visiting with all the little
kids, but she couldn’t stay. The shelter was only for battered
women with young children.
Statistically, 65 percent of the homeless are mothers with children,
according to the Colorado Department of Human Services. The true minority
is a homeless woman without children.
Most homeless women end up as prostitutes, said Liz. “I would
never do that. I have too much respect for myself.”
Liz celebrated her 18th birthday on the streets, closing Adams County
Social Services case of her various foster and group homes and opening
another by being a alone, and of age, on the streets. She said being
a single, homeless woman is extremely dangerous.
“I used to have a knife collection, and let people know I had
knives on me,” Liz said, but she has been robbed.
With a chilly whisper, while zipping up the black windbreaker her
mother gave her to brace another Colorado night, Liz admits to having
been assaulted, but she chooses not to go further into the details.
After sunset, Liz and Jason only have a few hours together. She has
to be back at Urban Peak by 8:45 p.m. for bed-check. She has a bed
for the next few months, but once the baby is born, she’ll have
to be transferred. Urban Peak doesn’t allow babies.
Liz and Jason gather their backpacks and cross to the Southwest corner
of Broadway and Evans. They seem to make more money over there, they
say.
“I really don’t like doing this, begging off of people,”
Liz said “It’s not the life I was meant to have.”
She has faith that things will be better for Annabelle, her unborn
baby girl.
Youth/Female Homeless Shelters and Hotlines
- Urban Peak, 1630 S. Acoma St. (303) 777-9198 (Youth aged
16-21)
- Comitis Crisis Center, 9840 E. 17th Ave. (303) 343-9890
(24-hr. hotline)
- Samaritan House, 2301 Lawrence St. (303) 294-0241
- The Spot, 2100 Stout St. (303) 291-0442
- Volunteers of America Theodora House (303) 620-9190
- Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, 2100 Broadway St.
(303) 293-2217 and (303) 285-0377
- United Way Shelter referral hotline (303) 561-2222 (Monday
thru Friday 8a.m.- 8p.m.)
- National Runaway Switchboard (800) 621-4000
- Restoration Center for Homeless Women (303) 316-9816
- Rape Crisis Hotline (303) 322-7273
|
