Transgender and Homeless, Youth Struggles to Build a Life

Juan Gallaher lost his apartment because he turned 21.
By MERIBAH KNIGHT
Published: November 26, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/transgendered-and-homeless-youth-struggles-to-build-a-life.html?_r=1

It was 8:30 p.m., and Mr. Gallaher was getting his first meal of the day. But he has gone so long and so often without food that hunger is now a faint feeling, he said, though he knows he needs to eat.

Three weeks earlier, he had turned 21. While that is a happy milestone for most young people, for Mr. Gallaher — a ward of the state since 2006 — it meant he was no longer eligible for services from the Illinois child welfare system. As a result, he lost his apartment and his subsidies.

[...]

Mr. Gallaher also is a transgender person, and a former ward of the state — both of which, studies show, make him far more likely to experience homelessness.