“Cyrus” received support from Second Story through our Rapid Re-Housing Initiative, which is a part of Second Story for Homeless Youth. Young people in this facet of our program come to us because they were either staying in a shelter, sleeping in a public place, or living out of their cars.
He got connected with our program and rented a room with Second Story’s support. He had a job at a movie theater, but was laid off due to the pandemic. Cyrus lost his ID and other documents, which isn’t uncommon for youth experiencing homelessness. Many of them leave their placements quickly, moving around between different shelters and other sleeping arrangements, which makes keeping track of their belongings more difficult. We often bring youth to the DMV to recover documents and help coach them through keeping track of these important pieces of ID, but the DMV was closed during lockdown so Cyrus experienced delays that prevented him from securing another job.
We brought Cyrus snacks and other food and he has expressed his gratitude over and over again. We worked with him to manage the anxiety and frustration he was feeling as a result of his unemployment and lost paperwork. Like other youth experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, Cyrus experienced multiple challenges, but with a little support got through it.
