“I Was Born Into a Nightmare”: The Chaotic Life Trajectories of Young Women Experiencing Homelessness

Objective: Although youth homelessness is a grave social problem in many nations, researchers and practitioners do not fully understand the needs of unaccompanied young adults who experience sheltered or unsheltered homeless-ness, nor their trajectories into and out of homelessness. This study addresses this gap by analyzing the life stories of young women experiencing homelessness in Israel and identifying characteristics of their trajectories into homelessness and ways of coping with the associated challenges. Method: Drawing on the narrative paradigm, we invited 12 young Israeli women (ages 18–25) representing different categories of homelessness to recount their life stories, which we analyzed induc-tively using a narrative holistic content approach. Results: The pathways leading participants to homelessness were varied, but chaos was the common denominator of their life stories. Some participants described a specific negative life event that led to their homelessness, whereas others described numerous ongoing contribu-tors to homelessness. All adopted survival strategies relying on both internal (e.g., optimism and the feeling of independence) and external resources (e.g., social work-ers’ interventions). Conclusions: To connect with young women experiencing homelessness and gain their trust, we recommend that practitioners become active bystanders. Our findings reinforce growing calls to define youth homelessness, as the lack of definition makes it difficult to meet the needs of unhoused youth, result-ing in their abandonment on the streets or in unstable housing.