Home Start said there are roughly 1,500 children and young adults facing homelessness in San Diego.

EL CAJON, Calif. — November is Youth Homelessness Outreach, Prevention and Education, or HOPE Month, and one East County nonprofit is using it to call attention to a growing issue. 

Home Start, an organization that supports vulnerable children and families, held its annual walk and rally in El Cajon on Thursday to raise awareness about youth homelessness in San Diego County.

Home Start members, high school students and elected officials took to the streets, emphasizing what they said is a pressing need: roughly 1,500 youth are currently living unhoused in San Diego.

Each step from dozens of participants drew focus to a crisis that often goes overlooked. According to last year’s federal homelessness assessment report, more than one in four people experiencing homelessness nationwide were children or young adults.

Among those speaking at the rally was 22-year-old Oyuki Sanchez, who faced homelessness just nine months ago after moving to San Diego from Bakersfield.

“It’s a scary thing out there, because there’s not really public bathrooms to use, it’s hard to shower, it’s hard to feel safe, because you’re also in a car,” Sanchez said.

She eventually secured stable housing through Home Start and other youth outreach programs,  a moment she described as immense relief.

“I was, like, overwhelmed of excitement at the time, because the car was breaking down,” Sanchez said. “The car was not going to be an option very soon.”

Home Start CEO Joe Buehrle said raising awareness is critical because youth homelessness doesn’t always look the same.

“It can be more hidden where they’re couch surfing or floating from friend to friend, but they really need more of a stable base,” he said.

He added that connecting young people with support early can help prevent long-term homelessness.

Students from E3 Civic High School were also part of the crowd, joining the walk as part of their civic engagement curriculum.

“Raise awareness and kind of put what they’re learning in the classroom into action right here in their own community,” Buehrle said.

El Cajon City Councilmember Michelle Metschel attended as well. She shared that she experienced youth homelessness herself.

“I came from homelessness, child abuse, single motherhood — to now I’m an elected official helping to get other people into housing,” she said.

For organizations like Home Start, HOPE Month is a reminder to young people that programs and support systems do exist,

“When I first got here, I was struggling, didn’t know nothing, and they helped me so fast,” Sanchez said. “There’s programs out there, you just got to look a little bit.”