Family Focus

Family Focus: Two formerly homeless teens find help, turn lives around

The newest numbers show nearly 100 young people  in Mecklenburg County are homeless, but volunteers who serve teens said the number may actually be much higher.

Anchor Erica Bryant spoke to two young men who turned their lives around after being homeless.

For days, Darren Fields slept under a bridge on North Tryon Street.

He said that he’s homeless after making what he calls bad decisions.

“That’s what makes you think, ‘Am I out here because I was lazy or couldn't make it?’ But both were wrong, because I did make it,” Fields said.

He said he made it back onto his feet because of a men's shelter.

When Joshua Artis was homeless at 18, after aging out of foster care, he turned to the Men's Shelter as well as The Relative, he turned to the Men's SHleter as well as The Relatives, a nonprofit that helps young people in crisis.

Now, at age 20, he has come back to the Men's Shelter to volunteer in the kitchen and he praises the staff here.

He said the staff encouraged him to do better.

“Those words meant a lot to me because that motivated me to push myself,” Artis said.

Statistics suggest more people than ever need that type of support.

In 2016, The Relatives assisted 6,000 teens and young adults.

That is 2,000 more than the year before.

Artis plans to go back to school to become a zoologist.

Fields is pursuing his dream of becoming a tattoo artist.

Both said that strangers who treated them like family made all the difference.

“I wouldn't be where I am right now. They helped me a lot,” Fields said.

The Relatives has multiple programs for young people ages 7 to 24.

For more information on The Relatives, you can visit its website.