PASADENA - There are places that serve homeless children and others that cater to homeless adults, but homeless teens and young adults may find little or no help at all. Hestia House, at Orange Grove Boulevard and Hill Avenue, is one exception. It opened in October and is the only shelter for teens and young adults in the San Gabriel Valley.
The facility provides shelter, food, education, work, mental health therapy and guidance for eight youths in the 17-to-24 age range.
Of the 92 people who have stayed there, officials said 71 are no longer homeless.
Sponsored by Pacific Clinics, Hestia House is part of their three-year-old Healthy Transitions and Housing program.
Hestia is the Greek goddess of the hearth, domestic life, personal security, happiness and the sacred duty of hospitality.
Hestia House serves clients from Pasadena to Pomona, said Gina Perez, the program's director, and there is no shortage of homeless teens once you know where to look.
"We find them in parks, at recreation facilities and in abandoned homes," Perez said. "They tend to gather in groups. They don't like to mix with homeless adults. There are problems there with physical and sexual abuse. You have to develop a relationship with them and gain their trust."
About 46 percent are African American, 26 percent Latino and 23 percent white.
There are almost as many homeless girls as boys, Perez noted. Only 30 percent of those they contact are former foster care children. Most were driven from home by parents on drugs or who were abusive and/or violent. Many come from single-parent homes where the arrival of a new boyfriend forces them out.
"Sometimes the household is so poor the oldest child will leave voluntarily so the mother will have one less mouth to feed," Perez said.
They have a van staffed by two outreach workers and a therapist who drive around helping homeless teens and young adults wherever they find them.
"We'd find out what they needed," she said. "That could be an ID card, food, shelter, legal help. We found that all of them have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and 71 percent use two to five drugs daily and at once."
The van team provides food coupons, bags of hygiene items, whatever the young people require.
Hestia House's goal, officials said, is to help the youths overcome their problems and live independent lives.
Officials would like to open more shelters for teens and young adults, but lack of money and the attitude that housing services director David Garcia called NIMBY, "Not in my back yard," are obstacles.
Jessica Montes, 18, said she began using drugs so she wouldn't have to return to an abusive, drug-filled home packed with strangers and her eight siblings.
Now, she's looking forward to graduating from high school in June.
"There are no drugs here and no temptation," Montes said. "Whether I use drugs is up to me. I'm not depressed now. I used to sleep 24 hours a day and cry all the time. I used to say mean things. I could really get under people's skin."
Salvador Escobedo, 22, was bipolar and a drug user. His behavior became so bizarre that his family kicked him out, and got a restraining order to keep him out.
He was jailed and reduced to eating out of trash cans before he turned his life around.
"I was stubborn and caused my family a lot of pain," he said. "I try to be helpful now. I try to give back. I try and lead by example."