Editor's note: The names of the homeless teens in this story have been changed to protect their privacy and that of their families.
WASILLA -- Kevin celebrated his 18th birthday Friday by picking out warm clothes donated to Burchell High School in case he was forced to sleep in a car again this winter.
"This is the best birthday ever," Kevin told Burchell's "life coach," Michelle Overstreet, who has been working desperately since January to find shelter for the school's 111 homeless teens. That's more than 40 percent of the alternative school's 258 students. And Burchell isn't the only Valley school with homeless students.
According to the Mat-Su Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, there were more than 860 homeless students in Valley schools throughout the last school year and many of those were forced to make do without their parents because of intolerable or abusive home environments.
"It just breaks your heart and makes me fear for these kids' lives if we don't find them somewhere to go before winter sets in," Overstreet said, nearly in tears. "Last January when it was 12 below zero we had eight kids who were sleeping in cars and we were able to find temporary places for most of them to crash, except for two. The best we could do for them was to make sure they had sleeping bags so they could try to stay warm in their cars. It just killed me."
The Valley has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the United States, Overstreet said. This means many children get caught in the crossfire and are forced to flee their homes.
Yet there isn't one shelter or even halfway house here for those who don't fit neatly into certain mental health categories or have parents who are willing to provide authorization for them to stay in the Dorothy Saxton Youth Shelter in Wasilla, for example.
"The parents are collecting welfare and want the kids home because they don't want to lose their benefits," Overstreet said. "We've had girls whose mothers traded them for drugs when they were younger and who now have to deal with the scars of sexual abuse and assault."
Overstreet and her colleagues on the Homeless Youth Task Force and at Burchell are attempting to establish a "host home" program where teens without a stable place to live can stay with another family or caring adult for a period of time.
Two such host homes suddenly fell into her lap Thursday after Army National Guard members looking for community service projects heard of two teen mothers at Burchell who needed a place to stay.
"We had talked about being foster parents, but when we heard about the host home opportunity yesterday, we knew that was what we wanted to do," said Brandee Gresham, the mother of three young children of her own with her husband, David.
"Once you have two kids, it doesn't matter how many more you take in. We have the room, so why not?"
The Greshams were hoping to meet one of the young mothers Friday, but she had not come to school that day.
Kevin said Friday, while gathered with a few other homeless students at Burchell, that he was forced to be the man of the house when he was only 13 after his mother became addicted to methamphetamine and then pain killers.
He said that although his mother called him Thursday from Anchorage to wish him a happy birthday, he usually doesn't hear from her. He said she's living in a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot with her boyfriend so that she can get methadone from an Anchorage clinic.
"She keeps telling me she has found a place and has a room for me, but she's a compulsive liar, so I don't believe her anymore," he said, adding he usually has to hitchhike to school now and takes showers at Burchell every morning. "I'm just couch hopping now, staying with friends when I can and trying to stay in school."
His classmate, Craig, 17, said he's been homeless since last spring after his mother set his clothes on fire and smashed his guitars when he failed to take out the trash one day.
"She was crazy," he said.
Kevin said that although he's not sure if he would want to be placed with a host family because he's trying to make it on his own now that he's 18, he appreciates the kindness of people like Overstreet and strangers like Wasilla's Patricia Parker, who recently donated an estimated $500 worth of clothing and supplies to Burchell.
"I'm grateful for everything," he said before meeting his girlfriend during lunch hour at the school. "I know I'll be OK because I'm going to graduate and find a way to support myself and be happy with my life. I'm not going to let my past get me down."
You can help
• The Mat-Su Coalition on Housing and Homelessness is holding a "Light for Life" candlelight vigil Saturday at Wasilla Lake from 6 to 7:30 p.m. that will feature youth speakers, music, and appearances by community leaders.
• For more information or to volunteer to help with the vigil, contact Stephanie Campbell at 715-9695 or s.campbell@ valleyres.org.
By K.T. McKEE
kmckee@adn.com