ESCONDIDO, Calif. — November is National Runaway and Homeless Youth Prevention Month. In this Zevely Zone, I met two friends who just completed a "Solidarity Journey".
They have a problem they want fixed, so they took their concerns to California's capital. David Baker and Justin Lipford from YMCA of San Diego County embarked on a Solidarity Journey on November 1.
"We started in Imperial Beach, and we walked to San Ysidro," said Justin. They then walked, biked and bussed their way up the California coast.
"This is downtown Los Angeles, yeah we were just flying through downtown LA," said Justin. They traveled from San Ysidro to Sacramento to raise awareness for homeless youth.
"I feel like David is what I believe all of this work is about," said Justin.
Seven years ago, David himself had no place to live.
"I met Justin as a homeless youth who was looking for resources, Justin was the program director for the transitional living program that I moved into to essentially end my homelessness experience forever," said David.
He now works for the YMCA. They met me in Escondido at this transitional apartment complex.
"We have young people with children, we have young people who have come from the world of foster care, we have young people who have experienced homelessness throughout their lives," said Justin.
Justin is the Director of Community Engagement for the YMCA of San Diego County. David is the Program Director for Housing Our Youth at the YMCA of San Diego County. They took the Solidarity Journey in order to search for more resources.
"That is Santa Monica. This is Santa Barbara YMCA," said Justin. They traveled 550 miles north.
"I just like to dream big, and I just think if we can go big, we not only let the community know but we can let all of these young people know that we work with every single day that we see them, we love them and we believe in them," said Justin.
Which is why they slept in a tiny tent. "They told us it was a tent for four people, it was a tent for four children maybe," said Justin. At one stop, David rapped about his story.
"You get me in the studio you going to get some music and that's just how it goes," said David.
"We are seeing shelters that are packed to the brim on any given night San Diego can see two thousand young people experiencing homelessness. I was just one of the ones who made it out." David says homelessness is a statewide crisis.
"This is in Sacramento. This is at the finish point," said Justin. "We wanted to ring the bell and let everyone know how much of an issue this is."
Wherever David goes he asks people to take a peace sign, cross their fingers and hold them over their hearts.
"This is a sign of solidarity, everyone just put up a peace sign of solidarity," said David. Justin added, "This is on the plane that this guy jumps up on the plane and gets the whole plane to lock it in."
Just another way of saying we're all in this together. To learn more about the YMCA of San Diego County's Solidarity Journey to end youth homelessness click here.