Everyday thousands of young people experience homelessness. Across the nation, over 35,000 youth were counted on a single night as homeless. Many of which sleep unsheltered and without the safety, stability, or support of their families or homes. These numbers have been said to be imprecise which speaks even more to the devastation our teenagers in America face.
Conflict within family home life is one of the major contributing factors in young people becoming homeless. Amongst other contributing factors are poverty, housing insecurity, mental health issues, substance abuse and racial disparities. Involvement with child welfare and juvenile systems can also play a role, as well as early teenage pregnancy or those who identify as LGBTQ, and those of color particularly African and Native Americans.
In Trenton and Mercer County, like several other areas of New Jersey, many young people are homeless. According to the 2019 Point-in-Time Count, youth homelessness accounts for 25% of total homeless within the city. A local Trenton native, Jeannie Davis, wanted to change this and determinedly developed a mobile resource app for at risk or homeless youth!
Trenton Youth App, WIN: What I Need, is a FREE application that connects youth ages 16 to 24 to over 12 types of resources including: shelter, crisis, food, drop-in centers, health, legal hotlines, education, jobs opportunities, transportation, benefits, and more.
The app is available 24/7 and easy to navigate as it provides helpful information with optional audio features! WIN even includes special programs for youth including those who are pregnant, parenting, re-entering, escaping domestic violence or sex trafficking, veterans, LGBTQ, current or former foster youth or college students.
A cool feature on the app is the optional alerts about job fairs, health clinics, as well as winter shelter updates!
You can find the WIN app in the app store (for iPhone and iOS devices) or google play store (for Android phones).
For more information, contact WIN at TrentonYouthWINApp@trentonnj.org.
Sources: Trentonnj.org, Endhomelessness.org
