Those Most Affected by Homelessness Should Be in Power

Youth homelessness is growing. And most people have no idea how bad it really is. Right now, young people are aging out of foster care with nowhere to go. They are couch surfing, sleeping in cars, and falling through cracks in a system that was supposed to protect them. And the data we have does not even capture the full picture. Marcella Middleton knows this firsthand. She aged out of foster care at 21, went through 16 placements, and experienced homelessness in college. Today she is the CEO of Away Home America, leading a national movement to end youth homelessness. Marcella believes that those closest to the pain should lead the solution. That the people most affected by homelessness should be the ones in power. And she is living proof that it works. She breaks down why youth homelessness keeps growing despite years of effort, why lived experience belongs in the boardroom not just the committee room, and what it really takes to change a system that was never built for you. If you work in social services, policy, advocacy, or you just care about young people, this one is for you. To learn more about Marcella and Away Home America, visit https://awayhomeamerica.org 00:00 - Foster Care, Foster Mom's Shocking Betrayal & Living in a Car 01:01 - Meet Marcella Middleton, CEO Fighting Youth Homelessness 02:14 - Growing Up in Foster Care: 16 Placements Across Two States 04:07 - Finding Purpose at 13: How Advocacy Replaced Anger 05:33 - A Social Worker Who Became Family Against All Odds 07:40 - From Social Work Degree to a Calling in Youth Advocacy 11:26 - What Is "This Work"? A Way Home America's Mission 12:32 - Lived Experience in Leadership: Beyond Advisory Committees 15:08 - Emotional Intelligence & Learning the System Before Burning It Down 16:43 - How A Way Home America Shifted Power to Young People 21:42 - The Board Reconstruction That Put Youth Voices in Charge 28:34 - Is Youth Homelessness Getting Better or Worse Right Now? 33:30 - Youth Travelers, Chronic Homelessness & Breaking the Cycle 36:56 - Throwaways, Not Runaways: The Real Causes of Youth Homelessness 38:20 - Perry's Story: Heroin, Generational Trauma & No Real Choice 41:06 - You Can't Snap Your Fingers: The Long Road to Self-Sufficiency 44:51 - Love Yourself First So You Can Love Others into Stability 47:54 - How to Support a Way Home America and Get Involved More: From Encampments to Homes: How Dallas Is Solving Homelessness https://youtu.be/iG4afD_ycLk?si=Ka-2mM-rFh2Q14Y6 3,000 Homeless Youth in LA: How to Solve It https://youtu.be/6kRt6GBdy9g?si=wAfMJkef4KTaiD07 Thrown Out, Left Behind: The Hidden Crisis Facing 2SLGBTQ+ Homeless Youth https://youtu.be/X8C_SgA0fPQ?si=ATWOuYWOC_58TA5h Executive producer: Mark Horvath Producer/editor/cinematographer: Alex Gasaway https://www.youtube.com/alexgasaway Associate producer: Erin McGinnis Created by: Alex Gasaway and Erin McGinnis YouTube Podcast https://shorturl.at/XciIu Apple Podcast https://apple.co/4cckQ86 Spotify https://spoti.fi/3XyM98c ================================== Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/c/invisiblepeople?sub_confirmation=1 Invisible People’s website: http://invisiblepeople.tv Support Invisible People: https://invisiblepeople.tv/donate Sign up for our newsletter: https://invisiblepeople.tv/email Invisible People’s Social Media: https://www.youtube.com/invisiblepeople https://twitter.com/invisiblepeople https://www.instagram.com/invisiblepeople https://www.facebook.com/invisiblepeopletv https://www.tiktok.com/@invisiblepeopletv About Invisible People There is a direct correlation between what the general public perceives about homelessness and how it affects policy change. Most people blame homelessness on the person experiencing it instead of the increasing shortage of affordable housing, lack of employment, childhood trauma, lack of a living wage, or the countless reasons that put a person at risk. This lack of understanding creates a dangerous cycle of misperception that leads to the inability to effectively address the root causes of homelessness. We imagine a world where everyone has a place to call home. Each day, we work to fight homelessness by giving it a face while educating individuals about the systemic issues that contribute to its existence. Through storytelling, education, news, and activism, we are changing the narrative on homelessness.