East County News Service
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November 14, 2021 (El Cajon) – A walk, rally and resource fair aimed at raising awareness of runaways and ending youth homelessness will take place Wednesday, November 17 in downtown El Cajon. According to Home Start, the nonprofit organizing the event in honor of National Runaway Month:
- More than 1,500 youth are among San Diego’s homeless population
- Among chronically homeless adults, 50% were homeless between ages 18-25
- A national survey on youth homelessness found approximately 4.2 million youth up to 24 years of age experience homelessness every year in the United States
- Federal statistics show California remains the state with the highest population of people experiencing homelessness overall and the highest number of unaccompanied homeless youth
Walkers are encouraged to wear green and meet at 9 a.m. at Prescott Promenade (200 East Main Street) for the 9:30 a.m. walk to Centennial Plaza (200 Civic Center Way), where a rally will be held. Speakers at 10:30 a.m. will include El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells and other elected officials. Home Start CEO, Laura Tancredi-Baese, will join a local youth who has been affected by homelessness to share their stories.
Additionally, there will be three proclamation presentations from the City of El Cajon, the City of Lemon Grove and the City of La Mesa recognizing November as National Runaway Month.
Home Start’s mission is to assure the safety and resiliency of children by strengthening families and their communities. Last year, Home Start served more than 15,000 San Diegans in need of services. For additional information on Home Start, please visit www.home-start.org.
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