Teen Vogue – Cradle to College is a three-part series examining the realities that teen parents face in trying to access four-year college — from lack of structural support to stigma — and how they plan to shift the notion of what a “traditional” college experience is, and who “average” students are.
When Joseph Yusuf, 26 and father to a now-9-year-old daughter, was an undergraduate student, he tried to get food stamps — “because it would be impossible to try to work 40 hours and then have enough hours to dedicate to school and also be a part,” he tells Teen Vogue – and was denied. There were days he’d go hungry or go to on-campus events for the free food. Later in his college career, Yusuf faced being houseless. If it hadn’t been for scholarships, including one from Generation Hope, he says he wouldn’t have found a place to live. Read more at Teen Vogue.