Youth Homelessness: Resilience & Ambition

0:00Youth homelessness is on the rise in Australia, driven by family violence, poverty, and a tight housing market. People age 12 to 24 account for nearly one quarter of those seeking help, with 43,226 under. 25 reaching out in the 2024-2025 period. Many more cases go unreported, like those of 20-year-old Keshe Fernandez and 17-year-old Reign. Keshe fled an unsafe home during his final year of high school, bouncing between couches and spare rooms while juggling exams and casual jobs. Reign lost their family home to bushfire six years ago, then couch-surfed, and lived in crap motels, scraping by on school meals. For both, teenage life felt stripped away. I'm constant worried about food, rent, and stability overshadowed friends, fun, and future plans. Keshe couldn't even afford a guitar first, his passion for music on hold amid the uncertainty. Reign felt isolated, angry at lacking basics others took for granted.

1:00Now Keshe channels that energy into Haven-22, a creative space he co-founded with his partner for young people to stage queer proms, theater, and... Gidds offering the community support he craved. Reign words as a teacher's aid, inspiring kids to believe they deserve better, just as she wished for back then. Their stories show resilience amid crisis, proving young people facing homelessness hold big ambitions to create, educate, and build stable lives. Ahead, from your city, powered by AI, this is Sydney News Today. I'm Corey with The Story.