Last summer a young woman named April was found dead, wrapped in a blanket and dumped naked behind a church in New York City. Just the day before, April had been staying at a crisis shelter for homeless youth run by our partner Covenant House, located just two blocks away. A poster offering a reward for any information regarding her murder still hangs on the front door of Covenant House, unanswered. We still don't have much information about April's anonymous murder, but her fate is tragically common. Each year nearly 5000 kids die on the streets, victimized by pimps who buy and sell them and subjected to violence by those who lure vulnerable homeless teens into dangerous criminal activities. This isn't going to stop until we convince our leaders to prioritize ending teen homelessness and fight back against the street criminals who abuse our most vulnerable kids. Pimps and criminals get away with these crimes because they know the public isn't paying attention. They know that most people would rather look the other way than fight back, help our most vulnerable kids, and stop the violence on our streets. The solution is for people like us — people like you — to speak out, spread the word and demand change. We have to raise awareness about the abuse and danger that homeless teens like April face on the streets and we have to make sure our leaders in Washington need to know that we want more resources, more attention, and a real effort to end this violence forever. Thank you,
– The Change.org Team in partnership with Covenant House
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