From the Seattle Times:
Atop a pair of old roller skates and under blinking multicolored lights, with a Black Eyed Peas’ song blasting, Jessica Anderson said thank you.
She’s thankful for her 7-year-old son and her boyfriend who skated alongside her, for being able to start college this fall, and for Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets, a group that helped her get her GED and helped get her out of homelessness.
It’s one of many thank-yous the 10-year-old nonprofit organization received last night when it hosted a free roller-skating party at Skate King in Bellevue.
The group, based on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, offers GED classes, counsels homeless youth and sponsors events like the skating party — because the kids they serve deserve a little bit of fun as well, organizers said.
“For a little while they can just forget about being homeless and not have to think about these problems,” said Elaine Simons, executive director of Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS).
Last night’s event, co-sponsored by Skate King and several area charities, brought together about 60 homeless youths, between 8 and 24 years old, and their caseworkers. For younger children, it was a chance to develop better social skills and build self-esteem, said Joanna Ward, who works with at-risk youth.
Anderson, now 21, was homeless for four years, starting at age 11, she thinks. It’s hard to pin down the exact age she fled home — time moves differently when you’re homeless, she said.
She says that after suffering years of abuse, she left home and squatted under Interstate 5 near Roanoke Street in Seattle. A girl not much older than herself gave her clothing and showed her how to survive. Through her, Anderson was able to attend programs by PSKS and become stable enough to get her own apartment, where she lives now with her boyfriend and son.
She enrolled in the organization’s GED course and got her certificate last fall. In September, she starts classes at Shoreline Community College.
Matthew Hicks, who also got his GED with the help of PSKS, said events like last night’s helped him keep going as he tried to build his life. Through PSKS, he has found stable housing and has stayed sober.
“They give you an activity to do every single day,” said Hicks, 20. “It shows people that there is still a life out there, still a world outside of being homeless.”
