{"id":1374,"date":"2014-10-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safehorizon.dev\/uncategorized-en\/matts-struggle-as-a-homeless-youth-ends-with-hope\/"},"modified":"2017-10-18T19:47:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T19:47:11","slug":"matts-struggle-as-a-homeless-youth-ends-with-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/stories\/matts-struggle-as-a-homeless-youth-ends-with-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt\u2019s Struggle as a Homeless Youth Ends with Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matt<\/p>\n

*Matt\u2019s story is evidence that abuse and homelessness can happen to anyone.<\/p>\n

The very people who were supposed to love and nurture this young man ended up being the cause of his trauma and suffering.<\/p>\n

Matt is developmentally challenged. He was physically and verbally abused when he was a child and abandoned by his family as a teenager.<\/p>\n

As if life were not a struggle already, his family had kicked Matt out on the streets to fend for himself. Matt became a statistic: one of the nearly 70% of young people who become homeless after being abused as a child.<\/p>\n

With nowhere to go and no one to turn to Matt looked for work, but no one would even give him the chance to apply. Trying to keep warm and safe, Matt rode the subways and buses; sleeping wherever he could.<\/p>\n

How Safe Horizon’s Streetwork Project Helped Matt Heal<\/h2>\n

When Matt was only 17 and living on the street, he would frequent an abandoned lot where homeless young people gather.<\/p>\n

One night he was approached by someone handing out free food and bottled water. She introduced herself as a staff member from Safe Horizon’s Streetwork Project<\/a>, and invited him to visit one of our two Drop-In Centers.<\/p>\n

Matt came to our Lower East Side Drop-In Center and was offered:<\/p>\n