La Casa Norte:

Today was my second time serving with La Casa Norte. I chose it again because this place always adds something unforgettable to my serving experience. I leave with a new idea, opinion or even a thought that I never had before. Roberto, the volunteering coordinator, started by giving us some info about homelessness in Chicago. There are 11,000 unaccompanied youth in the streets, 40% of them are LGBTQ. Sometimes they are left without any identification cards. It’s hard to even imagine myself at the age of thirteen, walking in the streets and knowing I don’t have a place to spend the night in. Lost without any ID that proves I’m simply the person I’m.

“Homelessness isn’t an identity, it’s a situation,” When Roberto said this sentence I thought about all the times I identified someone as a homeless, and how I didn’t think that this might be a situation they are forced into, or simply something temporary and unexpected that anyone could face one day. I learned to never identify someone as a homeless. They are people with a unique identity who are simply going through tough situations.