LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness

A Roadmap to Ending Youth Homelessness with Mitchell Creese

For the final episode of this series, we discuss our report ‘A Roadmap to Ending Youth Homelessness’, in which we set out five key stages of prevention, identifying best practices for each stage.  We’re joined by Llamau Ambassador, Mitchell Creese, who shares his story of youth homelessness as we consider the different prevention opportunities that occurred throughout his journey, the importance of early intervention and the role of education in preventing youth homelessness.

LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness

LGBTQ+ young people are sadly more likely to experience homelessness than their heterosexual and cisgender peers, and are overrepresented in the youth homelessness population, as we found in our 2019 report: ‘Out on the Streets’.  To try to understand why this is, we talk to two of Wales’ leading researchers on the subject - Rania Vamvaka and Dr. Edith England, as well as a young trans person, ‘Ghost’, about their perspectives on this issue. We discuss how homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia, as well as an increasingly hostile political environment, increase the risk of young LGBTQ+, and particularly trans people, experiencing homelessness. We also get into some of the solutions that work to address this issue, including the ground-breaking ‘Ty Pride’ project.

Rural Homelessness

Conversations about homelessness in the media often tend to portray it as an urban problem that predominantly manifests as rough sleeping. Although this is the most visible form of homelessness, it’s far from the only one. In Wales, youth homelessness manifests in rural areas just as commonly as in urban areas. So, to highlight this issue, we talk to CEO of GISDA, Sian Elen Tomos, the Youth Homeless Coordinator for Powys, Chris Davis, and Jessica, a young person based in Blaenau Ffestiniog, about the unique challenges of experiencing homelessness in rural parts of Wales. We cover topics like poverty, transport, second homes, and how these seemingly unrelated issues contribute to the presentation of youth homelessness in rural areas. Find out more on the End Youth Homelessness Cymtu website www.endyouthhomelessness.cymru [http://www.endyouthhomelessness.cymru/]

Care experienced young people and youth homelessness

In this episode, we consider the challenges that care-experienced young people face as they navigate leaving care with Sharon Lovell, the CEO of the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS), Kate Phillips, who works with care-experienced young people in Torfaen, and a young person from Flintshire, Ellie, who shares her experiences of navigating youth justice, care, and homelessness, at just 18 years old. Although you may be busy with your festive activities this week, Christmas can be a particularly painful time for care-experienced young people, especially those who are facing homelessness - a sadly too common reality. So, take a moment to listen to this podcast and consider those young people this Christmas.

Neurodiversity and Youth Homelessness

In our second episode of ADREF, we discuss the links between neurodiversity and youth homelessness. At EYHC we recently published our report 'Impossible to Navigate: Youth Homelessness through the lens of Neurodiversity'. The report was heavily influenced by our peer researchers, and we were delighted that Axe was able to join us on the podcast, as well as Caerphilly's youth homeless coordinator, Nic Davies who was also integral to the research.  We discuss the social model of disability and explore neurodivergent young people's experiences of everyday life, their experience of navigating the homeless system and accessing services, and importantly, what needs to change to improve accessibility across Wales.  Find out more on the End Youth Homelessness Cymtu website www.endyouthhomelessness.cymru [http://www.endyouthhomelessness.cymru/]