Covenant House holding 'Sleep Out' to help homeless youth

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The number of homeless youth in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high. It's a major problem in California, and there's an organization taking action hoping to change that.

The Covenant House on Thursday is holding the third annual Sleep Out, where business leaders camp out with the homeless for one night to raise awareness and money for services for the homeless.

Richard Palache has been living on the streets for about five years

"It's kind of embarrassing asking people for money and having to ask people to buy you food and stuff," Palache said.

He is part of an alarmingly large group of homeless youth in America. Like so many young people these days, Palache turned to the streets because of family problems.

According to a report by the National Center of Family Homelessness, the problem is particularly severe in California, which accounts for a fifth of the nation's homeless youth.

"Those people, the people that are homeless, our youth, could walk right by you. They could be in a store, and you may never know that," said Nicholas Semensky with Covenant House.

The Covenant House is an outreach center for homeless youth that provides food, shelter and other services to people 18 to 24 years old who are homeless. The organization also provides access to programs that help get people off the streets.

"They are uncertain of what to do, who to turn to, what services may even be available," Semensky said.

Outreach workers pick up people like Palache nightly, giving them hope and a chance at a brighter future.

"I'm glad that they are giving me this opportunity, that I'm going to take, and I'm going to really use it for good," Palache said.

You can get more information about the Sleep Out event by visiting www.covenanthouse.org.