"It doesn’t make sense that securing a home takes this much suffering," says Deja Morgan, a member the Youth Action Board of Community Legal Services, and a coauthor of its recently released report.

"How the Pandemic Response Has Failed Young People and What We Need to Thrive" was co-written and researched by three members of the Youth Action Board of Community Legal Services.

Estimates suggest that at any moment in Philadelphia about 200 out of the 500 youth experiencing homelessness have spent time in foster care. They are sliding through what child welfare researchers call the foster care to homelessness pipeline.

New sheets and towels. A suitcase instead of a garbage bag for your clothes. The security deposit for a safe place to stay. Joel Embiid's recent donation will go to provide what may seem commonplace but isn't common for the youth YSI Philly serves.

Advocates say improvisation will be required to address the full range of problems Philadelphia’s child welfare system is confronting.

“Quality education for every child should not be a luxury, it’s a basic need,” says Project HOME's cofounder and executive director Sister Mary Scullion.

Youth from West Philly created avatars of themselves leading a tour of their imagined center, The Stoop, with help from Neighborhood Time Exchange media artist María Alarcón.

The Philadelphia Foundation’s Youth Advisory Committee spent weeks narrowing down the applicants to five grantees.