In 1991, Tyler ended up in Birmingham alone and broke. He accepted an offer of food and shelter that turned into physical abuse and forced prostitution. Tyler escaped and contacted Family Connection through the National Runaway Switchboard. The Family Connection staff rescued Tyler and brought him to the safety of our Alabaster shelter. Sadly, Tyler’s father was killed in a farming accident. After his father’s death, the responsibilities of the family farm fell on his 13 year old shoulders. This was to great a burden for Tyler so he left home with some money and traveled all over the country for over 3 years. Unfortunately, when he arrived in Birmingham he could not locate a shelter for homeless youth like he found in other major cities. The bite marks and bruises on Tyler and his comments to us, that no one should have to go through what he did, was a challenge for us to expand our services to Birmingham. In 1992, we launched Project HOPE, a drop in day shelter for homeless youth, and later we expanded our services to include street based outreach.

People often ask us what happened to Tyler. During his stay with us, he learned that his mother had passed away. This tragedy forced Tyler to return home to relatives and to claim the family farm. Thanks to Tyler’s challenge…there is always Project HOPE!