Filling the Gap

Filling the Gap is a service desperately needed for teenagers between the ages of 16-18. At this time if a teenager does not have an open Children Aid's Society file before the age of 16, there are no services available to help these young teens other then youth hostiles or the streets.

Why does our Government and Society believe when a child reaches the age of 16, their parent or guardian are no longer responsible for them and can kick them out of their home without a seconds notice? These kids are thrown from their home with little more then the clothes they can fit in a knapsack. They are put on the streets with no money, no job, no skills, and no experience. We wonder why there are so many young kids on the streets and teenage pregnancy is so incredibly high. With all these odds stacked against them is it any wonder that so few of these kids do amount to productive adults in society and that our youth jails are so over filled.

Someone needs to look out for these kids, give them a safe and loving place to live and a chance to learn the life skills they so desperately need to succeed in this world. I want to be that someone who starts to FILL THE GAP, which our Government and Society choose to completely neglect.

I have been taking teenagers into my home for the last few years. I cannot see a young teen, male or female left to the streets or a youth shelter. These kids do not have the life skills, experience or sense of responsibility to be able to make an instant life for themselves this is where we loose so many kids to the streets and hard drugs, prostitution and lives of crimes.