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Denton County is home to hundreds of teens without a permanent place to call home. Many have been neglected, abandoned, or aged out of foster care, and they face unique barriers to help. While there are shelters for families and younger children, there is little or no shelter for teens 14–19 years of age. These teens are left vulnerable to dangers and instability.
A Little about Journey to Dream and Kyle’s Place.
- Kyle's Place is the 1st and only youth transitional living program of its kind in Denton County and is operated by the organization Journey to Dream. Kyle’s Place is the only shelter exclusively for homeless teens, offering a safe place to stay, counseling services, educational support, and life skills training opportunities.
- Kyle’s Place sleeps 17 youth, but hundreds more are still waiting for a place to stay.
- Kyle's Place is 100% sponsored by the community, relying on donations and support from other organizations.
- Every dollar you donate supports housing, food, life, education, and mental health services for the youth in your communities.
- 2024-2025, the homeless population in Denton County increased by 33% in one year. That is approximately 690 people experiencing homelessness, according to local homeless count data.
- The top 3 reasons youth are homeless in Denton County are abuse/neglect (17.7%), domestic violence (14.8%), and substance abuse (14.3%).
Points of services of teens in need during 2024, 31,896 (nights of sleep, medical care, transportation, meals, and counseling)
Every little bit helps us grow Kyle's Place and ensure that no teen goes without a place to stay.
Please take a moment to read the compelling testimonial of a former resident of Kyle’s Place, which highlights the need for an organization like Kyle’s Place.
Why Does This Cause Matter?
The youth who experience homelessness often face serious emotional, educational, and health problems. Without stable living conditions, they also often find themselves without access to school-based meals, transportation, counseling, and consistent adult support. Experiencing homelessness can lead to school disruption, a higher prevalence of mental health issues, and an increase in exposure to abuse, exploitation, or use of substances. Each year, LH indicates that an estimated 71,000 youth (ages 13-17) and over 320,000 young adults (ages 18-25) experience homelessness in Texas.
Statewide and Local Statistics
Statistics demonstrating youth experiencing homelessness in Texas (2023-2024) are as follows:
- 125,231 total students in Texas public schools were experiencing homelessness, including 6.07% were unsheltered, 8.03% were in shelters, 9.67% were in motels/hotels, and 76.23% were doubled-up temporarily.
- Additionally, according to Homeless Count data, Trends reported in Denton County suggest homelessness is up 33% since 2024.
- The 2025 Point-in-Time Count documents 408 individuals sheltered (103 children).
- 282 were counted sleeping in unsheltered situations.
- Mental Health and Well-Being
- Mental health interacts with homelessness; in Denton County alone, 57.1% of unhoused adults report having a diagnosable mental illness.
- Among school-aged children, 7.7% report having a diagnosed mental health condition.
- 59.6% of adults and 67.1% of youth needing mental health treatment statewide did not receive treatment.
These points support how trauma, instability, or untreated mental health conditions lead to and exacerbate youth experiencing homelessness in Denton County.
Educational Disruption and Long-Term
The effects of homelessness on youth often include a higher probability of:
- Experience school dropouts, missed, or frequent school changes/displacement.
- Students experiencing homelessness graduate less than housed students.
- Lose access to essential resources such as food, transportation, and counseling.
Since 2008, the number of K-12 students enrolled as homeless has increased nationally from 680,000 to over 1.27 million.
Disasters and Housing Instability
Homelessness will only worsen as natural disasters and extreme weather events increase.
- Hurricane Harvey displaced nearly 24,000 students, many of whom quickly transitioned to homelessness.
Even without major disasters, the cost of housing is consistently rising due to inflation, and options for affordable housing in suburban counties like Denton are limited. We can thus consider this to be the creation of a "slow-moving disaster" that is moving families that are vulnerable into homelessness.
Why is Kyle’s Place Important?
Most shelters in our area serve families or adults; therefore, youth fall through the cracks. Barriers to accessing shelter for youth include:
- Age or identification barriers to entering shelters
- Mental health challenges or substance use
- Previous experience in the justice system
- Distrust of systems or fear of stigma
- Experiencing a break in school, which causes the loss of social and emotional support systems
Kyle’s Place provides youth with an age-appropriate residential living environment, wraparound services, and care in a supportive setting for youth who currently have no safety net.
Resources in Denton County
Although several local organizations assist vulnerable populations, there are not many that are exclusively serving youth:
- United Way of Denton County is the lead organization coordinating homeless service providers in the community through HMIS.
- Christian Community Action, Salvation Army Denton/Lewisville, and Metro Relief provide emergency assistance.
- MHMR, school district homeless liaisons, and TEHCY programs offer mental health care or school-related services.
- However, programs that serve youth often:
- Do NOT have long-term housing options for older adolescents.
- Have eligibility barriers and/or behavioral requirements.
- Have long waiting lists for youth due to limited capacity to serve.
Kyle's Place provides funded options to fill these gaps with housing, mental health follow-up, education, and life skills training, all in one organization and all under one roof.
How your donation is used to support Kyle's Place.
Your donation is being used to support:
- Expansion of housing capacity at Kyle's Place
- Counseling, life skills, and educational support for residents
- Community outreach to identify and support at-risk youth
- Mental health and trauma-informed programs for teens
Every dollar helps Journey to Dream further its mission of supporting and empowering youth who are at risk, facing adversity, and working toward a brighter future.
About Us
Our team is composed of four students from the University of North Texas: Matt Green, Dara Harris, Krystal Knight, and Emmalie Winkler. Collectively, we share a passion for supporting the Journey to Dream organization in Denton, Texas. Journey to Dream is solely reliant on community contributions, donor support, and charity events for funding. Through this project, we are excited to raise awareness about teen homelessness and assist Journey to Dream in expanding its teen housing facility, Kyle’s Place.
Learn More and Get Involved
Website: Journey to Dream
United Way Denton County: United Way Denton
Remaining Sources:
- 019 Denton County Homelessness Data Report, www.unitedwaydenton.org/sites/unitedwaydenton/files/2019%20Homelessness%20Dat a%20Report%20-%20FINAL.pdf. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
- “Homelessness Data in Denton County.” United Way of Denton County, www.unitedwaydenton.org/homelessness-data-denton-county. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
- “Increasing Awareness of Youth Experiencing Homelessness.” Texas Appleseed, www.texasappleseed.org/increasing-awareness-youth-experiencing-homelessness. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
- Pearce, Micah. “New Study Shows ‘Snapshot of Homelessness’ in Denton County, Mitchell Advocates Diversion - Cross Timbers Gazette: Southern Denton County: Flower Mound: News.” Cross Timbers Gazette | Southern Denton County | Flower Mound | News, 11 June 2025, www.crosstimbersgazette.com/2025/06/11/new-study-showssnapshot-of-homelessness-in-denton-county-mitchell-advocates-diversion/.
- “Residential Campus.” Journey to Dream, www.journeytodream.org/residentialcampus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
- 2024-Tehcy-Infographic-23-24.Pdf - Texas Education Agency, tea.texas.gov/academics/special-student-populations/2024-tehcy-infographic-23-24.pdf. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025