The video presents a series of interview clips featuring Allen White, a 16‑year‑old who experienced family conflict, foster care, and homelessness, alongside several staff members (Speakers B, D, E, F) from the OnRamp/Journey Place program. Allen describes being forced out of his home, spending nights in shelters, and entering the program after being denied entry elsewhere. Staff members explain the mission to keep kids safe, reunite families, and provide a "second family" environment. The program offers independent‑living skills such as money management, cooking, interview preparation, and educational support for young adults aged 18‑21. Allen credits OnRamp with improving his interview abilities, keeping him in school, and preventing him from falling into detention or street life. Other speakers share observations about the hardships faced by homeless youth, the importance of one‑on‑one support, and the transformative impact of the program on participants' confidence and future prospects.
Chapters
I'm 16 years old, and I'm here because me and my mom had situations in the house where we would be yelling, fussing, and fighting, and arguing.
And...
She told me I wasn't— I wouldn't be able to stay there anymore.
My mom's trying to, you know, find me a place to lay my head at night. She went into a shelter and I just came in here because they wasn't accepting people, you know, like teens like myself.
Y'all hungry?
Yeah.
One of the things that really hits me is when you see young people who've been sleeping on the streets. They're homeless, have nowhere to go, so they're stealing food, or they're arrested for trespassing, or, you know, stealing clothes. But what they have is torn and dirty, and they have nothing.
Our mission is to keep kids safe and families together. So every single day, kids come in and they're going through some kind of crisis, and we love on them and take care of them and try to help, you know, put their family back together.
They treat you like family. You're their own child. If you need to talk to somebody here, they are willing to sit down with you one-on-one and talk to you so that you can stay calm, stay safe.
So many people are complaining about not having stuff or different things when they have so much, and these kids are going through so much and they're still so strong.
OnRamp has helped me with interviews. We did an interview, kind of practiced an interview yesterday. I think I did pretty well. It helps me with school. It helps me stay on track with school.
So, manager, huh? Manager trainee?
Yes.
So you're gonna be—
Oh, I woke up at 4:50 this morning and had to be at work at 6. I just started at McDonald's and they offered me to take the management classes. Actually, in December. It's a second family. That's, that's how I look at it, is a second family.
There's only one thing every child needs in their life, and that's one person to be crazy about them. And the wonderful thing is that the relatives, there are so many of us who are crazy about so many kids. And so if they just feel part of that, I think that will make a big difference in their life. Give them the confidence they need to go out into the world. We are taking care of kids, really young adults, who they wouldn't have another option out there. Nobody else is providing these resources or these services.
Without OnRamp, I'd be probably struggling trying to find a better job. I probably wouldn't even be in school right now. I'm Allen White. This is Journey Place, my house. It's an independent living program. It's made for younger— young adults or young teenage guys from ages 18 to 21. It's basically to help manage money, independent living, how to cook. Be on your own.
I'm in school. I was put in foster care at a very, very young age. I bounced from foster home to foster home. I was almost adopted at one time. That didn't go too well. And after I turned 18, I had nowhere else to go.
I got into foster care at the age, I think, of 7 or 8 because my parents, they were on drugs at the time. But now, this is like where I'm at now, it's a lot better than being in a foster home, I think, because it's more, I guess, you have more independence, I guess.
These kids a lot of times just don't have a chance, and I'm just so happy that we're here to help give them a chance. At least provide that opportunity, open the door for them, show them that there is a possibility for a bright future.
What happened to me, I would be in either a facility such as a detention center or a jail, or I would be out in the street.
