On Oct. 1, Journey to Dream introduced Kyle’s Place. It opened its doors to help provide shelter, medical care, basic necessities and general support for homeless teens. Junior Komal Karumuru, president of the Interact Rotary club, says that an unaccompanied youth community is part of every town and city, but often goes unnoticed.
“I don’t think a lot of students know about that, especially here at Marcus,” Karumuru said. “I know that a lot of us don’t realize how great our families are and the resources that we have. I think that knowing about Kyle’s Place and the care packages that they provide will really help the other LISD students understand.”
Kyle’s Place was named in honor of Kyle Milliman, a senior who attended Hebron High School that spent most his time giving back to his community. In August of 2012, Milliman passed away after a long battle with depression. Kim Hinkle, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Journey to Dream program, started this project to show Milliman’s passion for creating a brighter future for everyone around him and unending love for his community.
After two months of preparing, raising money, gathering support and buying a house in Lewisville, Hinkle’s idea of creating a safe haven for homeless teens has become a reality. Hinkle searched throughout Denton County for the perfect location to set up the shelter only to be turned down by town councils.
“The towns told me they loved the idea of a shelter for the unaccompanied youth,” Hinkle said, “But they didn’t want to ruin their town’s reputation for having one.”
Hinkle said this did not deter her determination as she kept her hopes up. When Hinkle finally got to Lewisville, the city council agreed that Kyle’s Place would be beneficial to their youth and they allowed them to build it in Northwest Lewisville. It’s the first homeless teen shelter in Denton County.
During the last few years, Hinkle has seen the consequences of homelessness in the youth community, such as human trafficking, little to no access to food, medical care, education and financial resources. Hinkle said she then decided to take action. Through Kyle’s Place, she hopes to serve at least 100 teenagers its first year.
So far, Kyle’s Place is able to house 16 teenagers along with 10-12 members on staff at all times to help give support, educational and medical help, and individual and family counseling. Karumuru said she has high hopes for the impact Kyle’s Place will have on those in need.
“I know that there’s a lot of support that’s being given to Kyle’s Place,” Karumuru said. “People that go there will get a lot out of it and they’ll be really comfortable that there will be people to help them out and friends that they can make.”
The school’s Journey to Dream and Interact Rotary clubs are teaming up to send donations and care packages this semester. The group also hopes to plan fundraisers for Kyle’s Place at school.
“We’re going to help raise gifts and books and a lot of supplies that will help out those teens in need,” Kamrumuru said, “and what we’ll do is maybe once a month we’ll get those care packages together, and we’ll go to Kyle’s Place and drop off the goods for them.”
Whether they were asked to leave their homes, escaped a hostile environment or simply have nowhere to go, Denton County alone has about 400 homeless teens in need of help, Hinkle said. Karumuru says that because people are unaware of unaccompanied youths in their community they aren’t conscious of the problems homeless teens face.
“We’re not getting enough help or support for this, so Kyle’s Place should really help with that,” Karumuru said.
Kyle’s Place has been supported by businesses and nearby churches through donations of money and basic necessities. To officially celebrate the grand opening, Journey to Dream held a fundraiser on Oct. 1 at the Hilton Garden Inn, located at 785 Highway 121 in Lewisville, featuring music, food and a silent auction. Karumuru said that although they can not visit Kyle’s Place for privacy reasons, there are other ways to contribute to the cause.
“Not being in that position I can’t really give a strict opinion on it but I do believe that sometimes people don’t end up in good positions, not because they’re forced into it maybe they grew up with that background or with a family that wasn’t able to get the job or the resources that they wanted because it is hard,” Karumuru said.
