By
Nick Zeckets
Happy holidays UA. Smile, exchange gifts, be comfortable in what capitalism has afforded you. Out in the sunlight you'll all be warm. Homes to go to and families to be with. It's almost enough to make one forget about the less fortunate. Almost.
For 2,000 homeless Tucson children, the holiday season is the most trying hour.
An organization fighting to give these kids a chance; to give them an opportunity to continue developing is fighting this holiday season. Youth On Their Own, headed by executive director M. Toms Lon, works to assist self-supported teens.
YOTO toils to help teens stay in school when all semblance of a home disappears. Last year, the organization assisted 510 children. To qualify for the program, applicants must work part time whenever possible, stay away from drugs and alcohol, be a full-time student, pass all classes and have parental permission to either live independently or with volunteer parents. Upon meeting these requirements, students are given $125 per month for rent assistance or to help the volunteer family, housing assistance, case management, job placement, health services, survival kits and household items from donors.
High school years are a balancing act for everyone. Looking for acceptance. Attempting to garner strong grades to jump the ladders in society. Carving out a niche where you feel comfortable and safe. But how many of us actually had to do all these things as peripheral elements to paying rent and buying groceries sans parents? Not many.
For the majority of us, there was an aid structure existent at home. For 2,000 teenagers in Tucson, they are their own support structures. Parents lost to incarceration, undue poverty, and situations of physical and sexual abuse are all factors which have driven approximately 500 high schoolers per year to become YOTO benefactors.
Sadly, as reported by the Arizona Department of Corrections, 85 percent of inmates are high school dropouts. It's not so much to say that without a diploma one is destined to go to prison, but the chances are higher. Without a diploma, finding lucrative employment can be overwhelmingly difficult. Desperate times can easily drive people to desperate measures, and breaking the law isn't always out of consideration.
What future is there for a high school student fighting each day just to make ends meet? Some YOTO participants are even supporting their younger siblings. It's easy to sit back and have another beer, to go out to dinner again, go to the bars, or get a new shirt at some overpriced chain store. You feel safe and cozy. Why shouldn't you? Mom and Dad will bail you out if things get slim, right? Maybe you are working to fund it all, but college gives more time and flexibility.
Attending high school means going to school every day. More than eight absences was grounds for failure at my high school. On top of that, try to study at night while working enough hours to pay for an apartment and food for yourself. Additionally, your little brother needs diapers and Gerber. All this because the one deadbeat parent that did hang around decided to rob a liquor store. If that's not a test, I don't know what is.
Don't read this and think about Sally Struthers' distant children in Africa. Think about yourself. Just a few years ago, most of us were in high school. Envision the hardship of making everything come together. Without YOTO, hundreds of children would have no chance. NONE. Being destitute at fifteen is no place to get an education and, more importantly, no way to live.
YOTO doesn't want your sympathy. They don't want a lone tear symbolizing your compassion to moisten your cheek. Be sad, but be active. Apathy never got anyone anywhere. How many of you have that pile in the back of your closet that either doesn't fit or just isn't "in style" enough for you anymore? Give it to them. If just 10 per cent of this campus gave $5, it would come out to nearly $20,000! Don't empathize with me. Act.
Nick Zeckets is a political science/ near-Eastern studies junior. He can be reached at nick.zeckets@wildcat.arizona.edu.
