Number of homeless teens on the rise in area

Photo courtesy: North Strand Helping Hand

David Palinksi, founder of Project Lighthouse, a "drop-in" center for teens and young adults ages 16-22 has seen a huge influx of homeless teens seeking assistance. 

In a recent WPDE broadcast, Palinksi says that 530 street kids came to Project Lighthouse last year, this year that number is looking like it will triple. 

via CarolinaLive

"Over the 13 years that we've been running this program here, we would see, on average, anywhere from five to eight kids a day dropping in. These aren't new kids every time, they are repeat costumers, basically. This year, those numbers shot up two and three fold. We were seeing an average of 12, 15, sometimes 18 kids a day coming through the program," [Palinksi] says.

A lot of the new kids in the area are coming from out-of-state, from rural areas of Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. Head over to the source for all the details and watch their broadcast. Also, WMBF's "Experts say numbers of homeless teens on the rise" write-up from back in April about the increase in homeless teens in the area, give that a read here

Related:

In the area we have many organizations that offer help to the homeless and the less fortunate, here is a list of the organizations

Horry County Soup Kitchens & Shelters

Horry County Food Banks & Pantries

Horry County Affordable Housing Resources

If you know of any other area organizations please let us know in the comments section below. Additionally you can find write-ups on many of the above mentioned orginizations here