Kenneth Chancey is a 23-year-old college graduate
who was once homeless on Skid Row. Chancey graduated from Loyola
Marymount University with a degree in political science.
“I climbed here bare-handed,” Chancey told ABC News. “And yes it was harder than most people who are given resources, parental support. But it’s not impossible.”
To anyone in Chancey’s shoes, college would have seemed highly
impossible. Since he was 11-years-old, Chancey said he’s been homeless.
He said he spent some time in foster care, but didn’t have a place to
live while he was transitioning out of the home and often slept on
buses. “I slept on the 4 bus to downtown, to Santa Monica, and then back
to downtown, and that still makes me emotional now, but no one should
have to experience that. That’s the hard part,” the 23-year-old told ABC7.
Reportedly, Chancey started staying at the Union Rescue mission on
Skid Row with his father and sister. He somehow managed to maintain a
4.0 GPA while at the university and his living conditions being as awful
as they were. Not only was he killing the academic game, but Chancey
was on his high school’s varsity track, swim and football teams! What?
It was this impressive pedigree that landed Chancey scholarships that
helped him go to college.
As fate would have it, Chancey has received several job offers and
will be spending his summer at the Inner-City Arts summer camp.
“We hear perpetuating stereotypes that homeless are mentally ill or
mentally unstable, but there’s families on Skid Row, and there are
families that need support,” Chancey told ABC7. “Sometimes it’s not that people don’t want to exit Skid Row, it’s people don’t have the means and the opportunity to.”
Isn’t this beyond beautiful? Good look in life Kenneth Chancey!
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