Crystal Goldsberry got pregnant at 17. At the time, she was living with her aunt, who promptly kicked her out.
She spent the next several years couch hopping, bouncing between her sister, aunt and daughter’s father’s place. All the while, Goldsberry was determined to finish high school, though her pregnancy and living situation made it difficult.
On graduation day, she says, she “waddled” down the aisle to get her diploma, her gown draped over her nine-month belly.
After graduating, Goldsberry turned down a full scholarship to Northern Arizona University knowing there was no way she could be both a full-time student and a mother. A few years later, she joined Our Family Services’ CommonUnity program, which provides apartment housing for homeless young mothers and their children. Goldsberry, now 21, has lived there since, raising her daughter Scarlette and taking general education classes at Pima Community College.
Goldsberry’s story is not unlike that of other homeless youth in Tucson: the struggle to survive and make a life with the added pressure of staying in school. And the number of youth with similar stories is on the rise.
During a recent street count, volunteers counted 143 youth living on the street, up from 119 last year, according to Laurie Mazerbo, program manager for homeless youth services at Our Family Services.
Districts themselves deal with even larger numbers. Sunnyside Unified School District currently has about 900 homeless students, a number that is expected to rise to about 1,100 by the end of the school year, says Andrea Foster, SUSD’s homeless liaison.
Tucson Unified School District has about 1,800 homeless students, according to Barbara Green, the district’s McKinney-Vento assistant.
For young people living on their own, Mazerbo says, homelessness often stems from domestic violence, sexual and substance abuse, pregnancy and coming out to parents.
But the face of homelessness differs for each, she says.
Mazerbo says that most couch hop like Goldsberry, living with family, friends or whoever can offer them a few days on the living room couch.
Others are the stereotypical street kids or “gutter punks,” she says, heavily tattooed and pierced, their lives strapped to their backs.
Some are homeless but still living with parents, forced into family shelters by job loss and home foreclosure, says Kathy Wooldridge of Skrappy’s, a place where homeless children can connect with local services.
However, most don’t sport what some consider the tell-tale signs of homelessness: ratty clothes, dirty hair, plastic shopping bags weighed down with what few possessions they have.
“You would never see them and think that they are homeless….They look like just normal teenagers,” says Heidi Reynolds-Stenson, with Youth On Their Own, a Tucson organization that helps homeless teens finish high school. “They’re doing a pretty good job of hiding it.”
But what each has in common is the seemingly insurmountable task of completing school without the luxury of a stable, constant home.
It’s a challenge that not every child is able to overcome, Reynolds-Stenson says.
“A lot of them aren’t going to be able to do it, even though that’s what they want,” she says. “They’re going to have to compromise their dreams because of day-to-day survival.”
These children face the difficulties of using public buses, common transportation for homeless people, Mazerbo says. What’s more, homeless children are often embarrassed about “being found out,” she says.
“If they don’t have clean clothes they don’t want to go to school, because they don’t want anybody to know they’re homeless,” Mazerbo says. “They want to be like every other kid in school.”
The problems continue after school closes for the day. Homeless youth don’t have a safe, constant place to do homework, which makes it difficult to keep up in classes, Reynolds-Stenson says.
“You’re staying on someone’s couch and that’s also the couch where everyone hangs out and watches movies or watches TV in the evening,” she says. “Where are you supposed to do your homework? You don’t have your own space.”
As part of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, school districts must support homeless students with some of these problems.
The law guarantees homeless students the right to attend their original school, regardless of where they currently reside. Districts are also required to provide transportation to students attending a district school but living outside the district.
In addition, all TUSD schools provide free breakfast and lunch to McKinney-Vento students, Green says. Tutoring is also available for those performing below grade average.
However, individual schools often provide more than this, such as Mission View Elementary School, 2600 S. Eighth Ave.
Of the 336 students at Mission View, 26 are homeless. The school offers clothing, free breakfast and lunch, backpacks and school supplies to these students, says Claudia Leon, the school’s community representative.
Despite the challenges, Reynolds-Stenson says many young people she works with are determined to be successful, both in school and life.
“Seeing their resiliency and motivation is really amazing; to see that despite everything that they really want to finish school,” she says.
With intervention and support, homeless youth can be productive people in society, she says, a conclusion Goldsberry seems to exemplify.
Her daughter turns 3 in June, and December marks two years for her at CommonUnity. Beyond that, Goldsberry says she eventually wants to own her own home, attend a four-year college and make a career in either microbiology or pharmacy.
She says it’s all about providing a safe and stable home for her “little seed,” the type of home she herself wasn’t lucky enough to have growing up.
“It’s not about me,” she says. “It’s about the little baby I have.”
