Hidden Struggles: Waco’s Youth Find Hope at The Cove

Amid poverty, family conflict and limited resources, local teens are finding safety, stability and a path forward through community care.

Last night, Blake slept in the back of someone’s truck and hadn’t been at his mom’s for several weeks because of fighting with her boyfriend. Leona is hazy about the details of where she has been staying, but talks about it being an older friend’s place and recently, she had to test for pregnancy. Tremone is one of 19 individuals living in a 3-bed, 1-bath house and regularly falls asleep in class because there is no bed for him at home.

These young people are three of the 183 14-18-year-olds who received services at The Cove – Heart of Texas during the 2024 - 2025 school year. During the same year, 230 high schoolers in Waco ISD were identified as experiencing homelessness and for the prior year, Texas Education Agency reports that statewide more than 121,000 K-12 children and young people experienced homelessness.

Young people’s experiences of homelessness differ from adults’ experiences in two important ways. First, the wider community is often unaware of youth homelessness as a concern or understand the extent. Second, young people are at a developmentally and socially crucial stage that can determine many factors throughout the rest of their lives. Interruptions in education, access to health services, friendship development and a higher risk of exposure to trauma are all consequences of experiencing homelessness during childhood. Furthermore, experiencing homelessness during high school is linked to lower graduation rates, which in turn increases the risk of poor employment outcomes and of experiencing adult homelessness.

Nationally, and across Western nations, the main causes of youth homelessness are well established and consistent. Youth homelessness is commonly driven by the link between families experiencing poverty and a breakdown in the relationship between a parent and a young person. Consequently, families reach a point that can be described as “the pressure cooker failing,” with the young person leaving the home. While this is a typical route into youth homelessness, there are many other factors, including being taken into the foster care system, that can cause youth homelessness. For example, while a young person’s drug use or poor mental health can cause homelessness, it does not do so for every individual. 

In Waco, there is growing recognition of the need to support young people experiencing homelessness as part of what it means to be a healthy community where all can thrive. Drop-in services to access the basics of food, hygiene items, laundry and clothing are available. Our community has an emergency shelter for those aged under 18 and those 18-plus. After-school programs assist with educational attainment, school attendance, work readiness and gaining essential life skills. Recent new work facilitated by Prosper Waco as part of the National League of Cities Re-Engaging Opportunity Youth in the South initiative and the Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth work has focused on creating opportunities for Opportunity Youth – young people disconnected from education and employment – to access the support they need to connect with the growing economic success in our community. 

However, there are significant challenges facing young people and those providing support. Schools are stretched due to funding and legislative pressures. Families living in poverty are stretched. The uncertainty nationally about the sustainability of funding creates fear of what the future may hold for agencies. Locally, gaps in transportation and the cost of housing add further pressure on young people and their families. There is also a need for investment to create new systems of support, for example, increasing the supply of early mental health interventions and providing dedicated emergency shelter for those aged 18-21 who have a focus around increasing economic activity.

Despite the challenges, the commitment to serving young people in our community grows. Momentum is being built through groups like the Youth Homelessness Committee, Our Community Our Future system of care and the work focusing on Opportunity Youth is finding and addressing ways to better serve our young people. Partnerships between the nonprofit sector and our schools are also an essential component of wraparound support that decreases the opportunities for young people to fall between the cracks.

So, where does all this leave youth like Blake, Leona and Tremone? Through services like The Cove and others in our community, they can get the essentials for day-to-day life met, they can graduate high school, they can be introduced to and access higher education or vocational training opportunities, they can build and renew supportive relationships and they can access the wider services they need to thrive.

Doing this work and seeing the success of all our young people is an essential part of what it means for Waco to be a city to believe in.