Rising for a cause
To fix youth homelessness, we first have to admit there's a problem

Poverty comes in many forms. Most often, we think of poverty in a monetary aspect, such as lack of housing, clothes and food. However, monetary poverty also has a ripple effect through our community. People suffering from monetary poverty also often lose their sense of self and community. How can we help not just the root cause of this problem, but also the people affected by it?

I sat down with Carmen Ilisoi, with Oak Tree Youth Resources, and Nicole Burchfield, Durango Public Library Youth Services Librarian, to dig deeper into these questions in hopes of finding answers.

On Nov. 16, Ilisoi, Burchfield and their respective organizations teamed up to host a “Speak Out” event for November Youth Homeless Awareness Month, which gave center stage to homeless youth to talk about the issues they and their families face.

“We wanted to shine a light on (homeless youths’) experiences by highlighting poetry and stories as well as two speakers sharing their experiences of homelessness, incarceration or the relational aspect of being a homeless youth,” Ilisoi said. All presentations were given by youth from Southwest Colorado.

Homelessness has been an issue on the forefront in Durango and has only increased with the displacement of people since the shutdown of Purple Cliffs in September. 

“We’ve been finding that in this area, people tend to think that youth homelessness is an urban problem,” Ilisoi said. “And maybe some people know it’s an issue but don’t yet understand the weight of it here in rural communities.”

Burchfield, too, said homeless youth have nowhere to go, especially because the community shelter doesn’t allow anyone under the age of 18. What makes matters worse is there are few resources in town for homeless youth. The few that are out there, Burchfield said, are not well known, which makes it hard for youths to find help.

 “Oak Tree is one of the only resources for youth to receive housing vouchers or supplemental housing costs,” Ilisoi said. “Other organizations help all ages, so what happens is that youth get pushed to the bottom, and receive less help.”

Founded in February 2020, Oak Tree Youth Resources is a youth-serving nonprofit that helps young people reenter school, complete their education, learn job skills, receive employment assistance and seek stability while avoiding homelessness, to name a few of the services offered.

Both Burchfield and Ilisoi hope the Speak Out event will rally the community to take this issue head-on. “We want people to understand more about why youth become homeless and how they can help them,” Burchfield said. “We want to make people aware of what the actual truth is and dispel myths about youth homelessness. By hearing from actual people and youth who have been in those situations, hearing their stories makes it more relatable.”

Not all difficulties are solved quickly, but by investing in our communities, especially young people, we are investing in ourselves.

To learn more and contact Oak Tree Youth Resources, visit oak treeyouthresources.org or stop by their office at 1150 Main Ave.