A recent episode of “Young, Unhoused and Unseen” examines the biggest hurdles to finding solutions to youth homelessness in the Philadelphia region.

The podcast is a production from WHYY News and Temple University’s Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting.

The episode includes interviews with an unhoused young person in Pottstown and a Montgomery County service provider.

Colt Steinmetz, 19, has been living in the small encampments in Pottstown.

“Until I was 18, I was never houseless, but I don’t think I’ve really not been homeless,” he said.

He added that he has nothing except the clothes he is wearing, the shoes on his feet and whatever is in his pockets.

In Montgomery County, the youth homelessness crisis continues to grow with the rising cost of rent and housing.

Most advocates say that housing, not money, is the issue. Local governments should be spending more of their resources on making housing more affordable.

Another roadblock is some unhoused youth and young adults feel like they must make themselves invisible which makes it harder to get them help.

“It becomes his elaborate game of hide and seek,” said Mark Boorse, the director of program development for Access Services.

“It’s not a game and it’s not funny. The stakes are high and this is about human survival.”

Read more about the podcast’s focus on youth homelessness in Montgomery County at WHYY.

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