A Teen's Perspective

Each month we evaluate success stories - what caused a family’s homelessness, the changes that were made to end their homelessness and the ultimate successes that followed - all from the parent’s perspective. This month, we decided to shift our focus just a bit to a teen’s perspective.

In a recent Teen Life Skills class, they were asked to give their definition of change. Here are some of their answers:


“Change means to start over. Make new. It makes your life better.”




”It means coming out of the old to the new.”




”When I think of change, my mother comes to mind.”




”It means to do something for a difference. I am getting good grades!!”




”It’s doing something that will take you out of your comfort zone. My mama is getting her life together and I used to have a I don’t care attitude about everything.”


”Change is something I hate and it sometimes makes me uncomfortable. I’m not ready to move and I think we should wait until we finish a whole year.”


”Change means that you don’t do anything that you use to, because you know you can do better and need to. When I think of change, what comes to mind is doing whatever it takes to stop doing the bad and achieve your goals.”


The concept of change can be daunting for anyone, but if our teens can grasp its impact then they have the primary tool necessary for breaking the cycle of generational poverty and living lives of self-sufficiency.