Young Faces

Monday A young couple comes in through Hope House's red front door. "Hi, we're just here to see what you guys have."

He's got reddish hair and a scruffy look, wears a baggy black sweatshirt and a trucker hat. She's in a sweatshirt, too, the pregnancy is just beginning to show.

As the volunteer explains the general services available at Hope House, the young man is nervously checking out the window. "Hey, do you have a place to put our bikes?"

The couple have no car, nor a home as it turns out. They're worried someone will take their bikes parked outside, so the volunteer tells them they can bring them inside while they shop.

Their names are Danny and Sara. He's 18, she's 17, the baby is due in six months. They're not going to find out if it's a boy or a girl because they want a surprise.

Wednesday A young man came in through the red door. He stands in the waiting area and looked around quietly.

"What can we do for you?" asks the volunteer.

"I just need some diapers for my daughter," he says. His name is Mitch, thin face, thin build, thin dark beard. He's twenty-three and living at his mom's, with his 8 month old baby girl.

Friday Tristan comes through the red door wearing a fuzzy fur hat: broad cheeks and brown eyes beneath the fringe of black hair. There's a large red mark on his cheek.

"I'm camping out in Everson, and I could really use a chair." The volunteer got to talking with Tristan and pretty soon it came out that he could also really use a pot or, well, anything to cook with, and some utensils wouldn't be bad (he's been using a sharp stick), and he wouldn't mind a sleeping mat or something, but he already has a sleeping bag.

"I was in a pretty bad bike accident down in Seattle last year. Lost my job because I was in the hospital for a long time. Lost my apartment because of the medical bills. But I've got a line on some work in Alaska. It'll start in a month and a half." Until then, Tristan is camping out.

These are just a few of the new faces at Hope House. While the increase in clients has seen people of all ages and manners come through the red door, many of the new faces are young faces. Some have been homeless for years, some are just going through an extra tough month, some have no idea how they got here or where they are going.

But whether they are sleeping under a bridge, in a tent, at their parent's, in a motel, or are just barely hanging on to their apartment, Hope House's young clients are hard hit by the tough times. ♥