Saturday, June 13, 2009

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http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/09/graduating_homeless/

A Student From north High School Named Valencia McMurray Who Just Graduated This year Tells Her Story Of her Struggle To Stay In School & Graduate While Living On Her Own.

Shes Been Living Own Her Own Since She Was In The 10th Grade, Because Her Mother Moved To Oklahoma To Take Care Of Her Grandmother, & Her Father Lived In Wisconsin But She Didnt Really Know Him. After Her Mother Left She Shared An Apartement With One Of Her 4 Siblings In North Minneapolis. They Both Worked At A burger King To Pay The Rent. Sometime Went By & A Couple Of Her Brothers Friend Moved In And Her Brother Ended Up Loosing His Job, So She Had To Support All Of Them, But She Couldnt Do It & That Was Where Her Homelessness Began.

She Started Couch-Hopping, Staying At Friends Places. But She was Missing Alot Of School, And Her Teachers Noticed It. She Didnt Want To Tell Them That She Was Homeless, But They Kept On Asking & Wondering, So She Figured Something Had To give. When She Let Them Know How She Was Living The School Social Worker Found Space For Her At The 'Bridge' (An Emergency Shelter For Teens In South Minneapolis) (Where Shes Been Stayin For The Last 9 Months).

Valencia Says That She Thinks Her Teachers "Did A pretty Good Job Picking Up On Her Situation. She Was Missing Alot Of School, She Wasnt Doing Her Homework As Much As Before And Her Grades Were Slipping."

It Was Hard For Valencia To Keep Herself Motivated, To Get Up In The Morning To Go To School & Do All Her Work. Because When One Is Homeless The Only Thing You Have Are Endless Days & Unhappy Nights.

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