Good help if they can get it

Dennis Rieckmann went from homeless suburban teen needing services to Army private serving the country in Kuwait.

The 19-year-old credits his transformation to a DuPage County-based program for teens alone on the streets.

The transitional housing program, run through NCO Family Services, provided him with shelter, counseling, structure and life-skills training.

Without the program, Rieckmann speculates, he'd be "half dead now. If I hadn't come to NCO, I think I wouldn't have made it."

Most homeless youths in Illinois don't receive the help they need, a recent report by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless showed.

In fiscal 2007, providers served 2,895 unaccompanied homeless youths.

But they had to turn away even more -- 3,088 -- mostly because of a lack of resources, according to the report.

And both figures represent just a fraction of the of young people in Illinois who are homeless and fending for themselves.

A 2005 study showed Illinois had nearly 25,000 unaccompanied youths, defined as anyone younger than 24 who lacks a safe and stable living situation and is not in the care of a parent or guardian.

The 25,000 are scattered across the state, though the services are largely concentrated in Cook County.

For the recent report, the coalition identified 31 agencies that provide housing specifically for unaccompanied youths. Of those, 11 are in Cook County and seven are in Chicago.

But unaccompanied youths are not just an urban problem.

"I think that people see DuPage County as being affluent … and they don't think about youth homelessness," said Gail Hoffman, director of Wheaton Youth Outreach, which serves homeless women, pregnant teens and young mothers.

"It's always surprising to them how many phone calls we get," she said.

In 2007, Wheaton Youth Outreach provided housing for 20 women with children and 13 without.

During that period, the organization received 383 calls from people needing housing.

Hoffman said staffers try to refer those people to other agencies.

"But honestly, the other options aren't that good," she said.

What works

Enlisting was just one of a series of steps Rieckmann took to get his life back on track.

Before the Army called him to active service, Rieckmann had secured a car and a job stocking shelves. He had a plan to enroll in community college.

He also had reconciled with his parents, whom he refused to speak to for more than a year after leaving home.

After fighting bitterly with his parents for months, Rieckmann threw all of his belongings in his car and took off during his senior year in high school. Rieckmann crashed with an uncle, friends and his step-grandmother for the remainder of the year, landing at the housing site after high school graduation.

Rieckmann beat the odds by getting help.

But, according to the report, his success after receiving help is fairly common.

Of the 856 Illinois youths who exited programs for homeless teens and young adults in fiscal 2007, 87 percent moved into safe, stable housing; 36 percent got a job; and 42 percent enrolled in or had completed a high school or GED program, the coalition report found.

"We know that the programs work. They're able to give youths the tools they need," said Daria Mueller, a policy specialist with the coalition. "The main problem is that way too many youths aren't getting in the door … . It's the good and the bad news about these programs."

Young people who do get in the door generally get far more than just a roof over their heads.

At his transitional housing program in Batavia, Rieckmann received training in managing a budget, cooking and cleaning, monitoring his credit, applying for a job, securing transportation and locating an apartment.

At the time, Rieckmann's program had a Batavia residence; it has since moved to Aurora. NCO also maintains transitional housing in Downers Grove and Woodridge.

"We had goals," Rieckmann said. "There were a lot of things I didn't know how to do. They helped me establish myself. They gave me a kick-start."

Perhaps most significantly, Rieckmann received help for the bipolar disorder he was diagnosed with during his senior year in high school.

In high school, Rieckmann recalls, he read -- and theorized -- voraciously. His mind racing, he would jot down his thoughts and ideas in stacks of notebooks. He didn't put the same effort into his school work, and his grades suffered.

He isolated himself from friends and family. He had no energy. He said he felt "walled off, to the point where it just crushes in on you. It was like someone turned off the switch. It was very, very difficult to see joy."

Ultimately, he had what he calls a "bad, bad breakdown" at school. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but he didn't take the medicine the doctors gave him.

"My body was telling me I don't have this," Rieckmann said.

His mother was, too.

"She knew how things were back in the day. She puts a lot of what happens into religion," Rieckmann said. "She thought I was doing it for attention."

The agency staff had heard similar stories before.

"The bipolar thing is huge," said Deborah Carr, NCO residential program director. "We see it especially with the younger kids. They start getting in instances where they're out of control."

Rieckmann said his counselor pulled him out of the cycles of depression and mania that had plagued him for years.

"She helped me understand myself," Rieckmann said. "She was the only adult person who could give me feedback. She taught me to get out of my shell and live, to not live life in a bleak state."

The investment

An Illinois House bill introduced this month would add $7 million to the state Department of Human Services budget to provide shelter, transitional housing and employment assistance for unaccompanied youths.

The coalition estimates providers need $5.5 million more than they receive now to pay for unmet needs. The figure doesn't include demand for new programs in areas where there are no services for unaccompanied youths.

Carr estimates she easily could fill another 15 beds with young people looking for transitional housing.

Her organization recently opened new transitional housing for young women in Downers Grove. Carr started the program after receiving 47 calls last year requesting housing for girls at her other locations, which serve only boys.

"There's a lot of need for re-direction and second chances," Carr said. "We're all about second chances."

Rieckmann said he plans to make the most of his second chance.

"I want to protect people," he said. "I've learned to have pride in what I am now."