November 3, 2016

Dear Next President,

Congratulations on winning the presidency. It was a very close race, but you came out as our president. I have an issue about the youth that are becoming homeless everyday. Now, I understand you get a lot of letters and most likely do not want to waste your time reading them, so I'm going to get right to the point. Youth homelessness is nothing new. Its an issue that has been going on for years. I want these people helped. I feel that since this a country of the people we should help the people in need. They should get some shelter and food. I understand this costs millions of dollars, but I do believe that it is worth it.

I feel as though the government and others should help people that are struggling. You would think that people are helping because everyone claims to be “good samaritans.” In reality, lots of people do not care as much as they should because it is not them who are in need of a place to stay or a scrumptious meal. Part of youth homelessness comes from kids being in foster care programs and after aging out of the program have nowhere to go. This puts automatic fear in them because they do not know where their next meal is coming from or where they are going to live. With this comes violence and the art of stealing because they just want a little object. I've always believed that nothing should ever resort to violence or theft, but it maybe a little different to someone who has never learned ways around doing such things.

When kids get out of foster care or other forms of group homes they don't have enough money to thrive in the world today. Lots of places are increasing their rent or cost of houses. According to www. Kqed.org, “And while shared housing is an option, it doesn't seem to be making that much of a difference in the housing market: more than 19 percent of U.S. households are considered shared housing situations.” Basically, this data is saying that yes it is an option to share a household, but not many do. I believe and I would think you do too is that people are a lot less trusting these days. I understand that, but it could change someone's entire life if people let them into their homes.

Lastly, the cost of college housing is skyrocketing. Youth dream of being able to go to college. The thing that crushes their dream is not having a place to stay already and finding out that they do not have enough money to even get a college dorm is breathtaking. Www. Kqed.org states, “And if you`re in the midst of trying to figure out how you`re going to pay for college here`s some bad news: universities seriously underestimate the cost of living for students.” This statement alone shows the type of economy we are living in. It is the economy where we all speak of making a difference and an impact, but it is never the case. I feel that this should change immediately if we want to take the amount of problems in America down. Not only the homelessness of youth, but a ton of others which I know would make your job easier.

In conclusion, I believe youth homelessness needs to be stopped. I think the government and others should make a valuable effort to end this crisis. More shelters or some form of housing should be made to help these people that are at a point in their life where they are down and really need help. This in turn helps the streets become cleaner with less homeless people on the streets and better looking city altogether. I appreciate you giving me your time to address this important issue.

                                                                                                                                          Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                               S.M

                                                                                                                                              9th grader