Fighting Homelessness: New HUD Program Helps Foster Youth With Housing Like Family Would

Exclusive interview with Sec. Ben Carson and program originators

Jan Jekielek

Senior Editor

Jan Jekielek is a senior editor with The Epoch Times, host of the show “American Thought Leaders.” Jan’s career has spanned academia, international human rights work, and now for almost two decades, media. He has interviewed nearly a thousand thought leaders on camera, and specializes in long-form discussions challenging the grand narratives of our time. He’s also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producing “The Unseen Crisis,” “DeSantis: Florida vs. Lockdowns,” and “Finding Manny.”

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February 11, 2020Updated: February 13, 2020

biggersmaller

Just what is it like to suddenly have no place to live when you turn 21?

Every year, roughly 5,000 such foster care youth end up homeless. But a new program is poised to completely change all that, and change it as early as this year.

This is American Thought Leaders ??, and I’m Jan Jekielek

In this episode, we’ll sit down with Secretary Ben Carson to discuss how the Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative was launched in just 4 months after an ambitious group of former foster youth pitched it to him. We’ll also speak to program participant Adaora Onuora, as well as two longtime advocates for foster youth who helped make this happen—Ruth Anne White, Executive Director of The National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, and Jamole Callahan, one of the founders of ACTION Ohio.

American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube.