Why Elyse Webster is Sleeping Outside

Some websites say that 20% of homeless people in Canada are youth and young adults ages 13-24. But those are just words and numbers on a chart, how do we know there aren't thousands of youth scattered across our country freezing and starving, hidden from the thoughts of others. Tens of thousands of kids just wanting a safe home without drugs, alcohol and abuse while we're sitting here complaining about Sephora not having a makeup product in stock or not being allowed to play videos games for 5 hours straight. Homelessness is always an afterthought for people. Something sad and an uncomfortable topic, but these are real people. Real people made of flesh and blood with hearts and souls. People with dreams, talents, fears, beliefs and personalities. A lot of people assume that homeless people are homeless because they made bad decisions. And although that may be true in some cases, it's not true in all. Some kids are kicked out of the foster system when they age out. Left to their own devices at just 18 years old because no one was willing to adopt them. Some kids have no choice but to run away from bad family situations because they don't feel safe enough to stay at home. When you're homeless every day is a struggle and most might not even notice. Youth homelessness is a lot more common than you might realize. 1 in 30 youth ages 14-17 will experience at least one night of homelessness each year. That's one kid per class. 1 in 10 youth ages 18-24 will experience the minimum of one night of homelessness each year. That's one player on a football team, basketball team, and soccer team. On November 15th I'm spending one night outside to hopefully raise a little bit of money for the homeless youth in Canada and it would mean the world to me if you could donate to help me reach my goal.

Please remember that sleeping outside is only a tiny fraction of what these youth have to go through, so always help them if you can. But don't forget that there are millions of children, adults, seniors and families struggling with homelessness across the world that need our help. Thank you for your generosity and always stay kind.