By NATHAN DEAL Nathan.Deal@gjsentinel.com Oct 15, 2023

Youth homelessness is a problem nationwide, and Colorado’s Western Slope is no exception, as there are more than 800 students facing homelessness or housing insecurity in Mesa County Valley School District 51.

On Friday, around 150 teenagers from the region who are either experiencing those conditions or know other kids who are experiencing those conditions had the opportunity to hear from a notable example of overcoming a difficult childhood: Antwone Fisher, who was born in an Ohio prison to a teenage mother before becoming a ward of the state, faced a dozen years of abuse from his foster family, was relocated to a penal institution for teenage boys until he was 17 and lived on the streets until he joined the U.S. Navy.

After 11 years in the Navy that included medals and an honorable discharge, Fisher became a writer — which he joked is “torture” because of his dyslexia that prevented him from reading as a kid — with his autobiography, “Finding Fish: A Memoir”, being adapted into the 2002 film “Antwone Fisher”, produced by Todd Black and directed by one of its stars, Denzel Washington.

Fisher shared his story with teenagers at the SPARC (Strategic Perspectives Accelerating Real Change) Luncheon, described as an “annual dialogue amplifying youth voice for community, diversity and well-being”, as the keynote speaker. The SPARC Luncheon was organized by CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of the 7th Judicial District as well as the Western Colorado Community Foundation (WCCF) and hosted by the Grand Junction Convention Center.

There were teenagers in attendance from Grand Junction High School, Central High School, Vista Charter School in Montrose, the Lighthouse Project, West Slope Youth Voice, the Montrose-based organization Faultless, Loving Beyond Understanding and Montrose High School’s LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) Student Council.

“I think about the things that I felt held me back; not having any family, being homeless, those kinds of things,” Fisher told The Daily Sentinel. “I had a lot of issues that I needed to work out, but I didn’t have anyone to talk to. There were no services when I was coming along. There was no CASA. There was nothing like that. If there was, I wouldn’t have went through any of the things that I went through. Nowadays, there’s services and people who make it their business to reach out to kids just to make sure they have food and a place to stay and counseling.”

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