America's Invisible Children, the crises of homeless youth in our country
This weekend the New York Times ran an extraordinary piece on homeless children in America called Invisible Children. The investigative journalist, Andrea Elliott chronicles a little girl named Dasani for 15 months and the story is eye opening. 22,000 children are homeless in New York City alone. Andrea reminds us that people are usually well aware of the beggar outside their subway station or the drunk homeless person on their block, but we don't "see" the homeless children and they are essentially forgotten.
I hosted a special on this topic for the CW Network in 2008 called America's Invisible Children: The Homeless Education Crises in America. Our mission was to educate viewers on the 1.3 million homeless children in this country who overcome insurmountable odds to receive an education. We were honored to receive a Daytime Emmy for the program and I hope that this weekend's New York Times article will bring this important topic back into the spotlight so as a country we can try to figure out a way to lower these staggering statistics and help our homeless youth.
Joan Lunden truly exemplifies today’s modern working woman. An award-winning journalist, bestselling author, motivational speaker, successful entrepreneur, one of America’s most recognized and trusted television personalities, this mom of seven continues to do it all. As host of Good Morning America for nearly two decades, Lunden brought insight to top issues for millions of Americans each day. The longest running host ever on early morning television, Lunden reported from 26 countries, covered 4 presidents and 5 Olympics and kept Americans up to date on how to care for their homes, their families and themselves.