Youth Homelessness | Everyone Deserves a Safe Place to Sleep

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Greetings and welcome to real
men.

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Feel I'm your host, Andy Grant.
You can visit the Andy Grant.com

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to explore my speaking coaching
healing and authoring work that

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name again.
Is the Andy Grant.com when I was

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younger between high school and
college.

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I was a mess.
I had made multiple suicide

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attempts.
I was in and out of Mental

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Hospitals.
Not really willing to be helped

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yet.
Just telling people enough to

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get them to leave me alone.
At one point, I left the

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hospital against medical advice
because I had tickets to see

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Motley Crue and I figured if I
was alive, I was going to that

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fucking show.
There's a longer tail about how

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I got home and the reaction of
friends and family, but the net

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result was that I was kicked out
of my house and I was homeless.

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Now I luckily had neighbors who
gave me a couch for a few days

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while I figured shit out.
So I never did have to live on

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the streets but I really thought
that might be what happened.

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Through college and Beyond
friends.

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And I would sometimes sleep in
city parks or hotels stairwells

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while we're traveling because we
were broke, or more accurately.

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We wanted to spend money on
booze, not a bed but that had

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the sense of adventure and
playfulness.

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That is nothing like true
homelessness.

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I've also spent many nights on
Airport floors, and in cars by

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choice, as opposed to economic
necessity.

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You know, I first started
shaving my head at around age 27

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because I was planning to move
from Boston to Los Angeles so

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that I could work on Film
Production and I figured with a

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shave head, it would be much
less noticeable that I was

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living in my car.
Which was my plan, but I met a

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woman who would go on to become
my wife.

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So that move and living out of
the car, never came to be.

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I share these stories because I
want to talk about homelessness,

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specifically, youth,
homelessness.

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And I don't just want to talk
about it.

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I'm going to do something about
it and let you know how easily

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you can as well.
In the United States, 4.2

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million.
Young people will face

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homelessness this year alone.
Kids can end up on the streets

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because their home isn't safe or
they're battling addiction

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depression.
Any Mental Health Challenge?

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The living on the streets
doesn't help any of that.

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Homelessness can lead to worse,
addictions sex trafficking and

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suicide.
Covenant House is a charitable

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organization that I've donated
24 years, they Empower young

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people to overcome homelessness
by providing them with safe

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housing, food and clothing, and
Relentless support.

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Since 1972, Covenant House has
opened its doors to over one and

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a half million young.
People experiencing homelessness

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and trafficking one youth at a
time.

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That's half a century of
believing in Youth and nurturing

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their promise talents and
courage.

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They are in 34 cities across six
countries, rescuing and

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protecting homeless youth on
average.

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Covenant House shelters, over
2,000 kids, each night and cares

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for over nine thousand Youth and
their residential programs.

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The coolest thing is that no one
is ever turned away without

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support of some kind and this
services and programs are

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available at no cost.
You can learn more at covenant

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House dot-org.
Perhaps you're wondering, why is

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he talking about Covenant House
so much?

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Because, For the First Time, I
am an active participant in

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their annual fundraiser, the
sleepout sleep out happens.

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November 17th around the world,
people give up their beds for

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one night to raise money to get
more kids off of a street for

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good, Covenant House, and
visions and works toward a world

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where every young person has a
safe place to sleep and the

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love.
Of respect and support they

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deserve and need to thrive.
Sleep out is not about

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pretending to be homeless, we
sleep out so that homeless kids

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don't have to when you sleep
out, you're not just raising

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funds and awareness.
You're showing these young

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people that you care and that
you are committed to their

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future.
So please consider donating to

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my sleep out, at sleep out dot
org, slash participant.

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/Nd Grant, you can also find me
on the sleepout dot-org home

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page by searching for my name.
I'm a quarter of the way to my

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five thousand dollar goal right
now, I'm talking about this

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because a planned guests had to
cancel at the last minute.

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Today is October. 7th, and
moments ago, I discovered that

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October 10th is World homeless
day, Day.

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So this is very synchronistic
and there is still time for you

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to join sleep out and give up
your bed for one night,

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November, 17th, to ensure that
youth facing homelessness can

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safely sleep at covenant house,
they can access safe shelter,

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nourishing food, clean clothing,
and essential services, like

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job, training, education,
Healthcare mental health,

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counseling and legal aid.
All the tools that are needed.

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Needed to build Futures free
from homelessness.

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Sleep out is our chance to shine
a light on the youth,

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homelessness crisis and raise
critical funds.

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That helps Covenant House
provide young people with a

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round-the-clock support the
awareness and funds raised

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translate to things like new
sheets, computers meals,

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best-in-class care for youth,
overcoming homelessness.

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Again, please visit sleepout
dot-org.

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Also donate to me at sleep out
dot org, slash participant /.

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Andy Grant, I shouldn't say me
your, your I'm raising money in

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their name, you're not giving
anything to me.

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And you can also find me on the
sleepout or home page just by

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searching for my name.
For the past two years.

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Sleep has been virtual many
people slept on their own

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porches or in their yards but
this year teams can finally

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gather and share in this
experience on November. 17th.

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Please do consider sleeping out
yourself.

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No, I have not done anything
like this since I think I was in

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the seventh grade when I needed
a walkathon for Ms. Not that I

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had a bad experience.
I just never did this again but

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know why.
But uh, you know, it's getting

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to be fun and enjoyment of
meaning.

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Great teams.
Meet a lot of cool people

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learning about the cause more,
so give yourself that gift.

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Give yourself that gift by
donating to me or other sleepers

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or deciding to sleep up
yourself, and raise some money

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too, right?
Right, cool, wherever you're

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discovering real men.
Feel, please, like subscribe,

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follow comment, and share.
And until next time be good to

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yourself.