Greyhound Providing Free Bus Tickets Home for Runaways this Holiday Season
FCI Staff Writer Sacramento 
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December 23, 2022,
Hollywood is often about feel good movies.
Not many films are made about teenage runaways in the United States.
There is very little good about that life.
In the 1980’s a very solid attempt was produced to depict teen runaway life.
The Children of Times Square is a 1986 American made-for-television crime drama film directed by Curtis Hanson.
And the storyline.
An alienated teenager runs away from home and travels to New York City where he falls in with a cocaine dealer using street children as drug dealers.
That was fairly predictable. On the male side.
On the female side, it often ends in prostitution. Films about their life tend to be exploitive.
One movie that is fairly exploitive but feels so real is Girl Lost.
Girl Lost is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Robin Bain.
Girl Lost was filmed on location in Los Angeles, California and was released by Cinema Epoch on Amazon Prime Video in 2018.
A little exploitive though it may be, the film quickly became the #1 trending movie on Amazon Prime Video in June 2018.
In addition, Girl Lost held the position as the #1 most popular movie on Tubi during the months of June and July 2018.
Here is the sordid storyline.
Girl Lost explores underage prostitution in the seedy underbelly of Hollywood. The film brings to light the very real tragedy of sex trafficking in the United States.
Girl Lost follows the life of 15-year-old, Shara. After being sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend, Shara runs away with her street hustler boyfriend, Jamie.
Jamie and Shara struggle to survive in Los Angeles, but ultimately, they fail.
Most teenage runaways do.
Finding herself homeless and alone, the wayward teen turns to the only option she believes she has and we sense you can guess.
Selling her body.
Shara begins working as a prostitute in a back-alley Russian brothel with other underage girls and her life begins to unravel.
The movie has a very realistic feel to it.
Now for some very real life statistics.
As posted by teenhealthfx.com, “According to the National Runaway Safeline there are between 1.7 and 2.8 million runaway and homeless youth live on the street each year. Seattle, San Francisco and New York City are the top destinations for runaways, but Hollywood has the highest, numbering 4,000 homeless youth.”
TeenHealthFX.com is a teenage health website project funded by Atlantic Health System’s – Morristown Medical Center.
They go on to add that:
- 39 percent of the homeless population is young people under 18.
- 63% of runaways are girls and 37% are boys
- About 75 percent of homeless teens use drugs or alcohol as a means to self-medicate to deal with the traumatic experiences and abuse they face.
- A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study found that 46 percent of homeless youth left their home because of physical abuse. 17 percent left because of sexual abuse.
- Over 5000 runaways die on the streets each year. Major causes of death are:
- Assault
- Diseases (including but not limited to AIDS) and illness
- Suicide
- Drug overdose.
Sad and sobering statistics indeed.
There is some uplifting news for teen runaways during the holiday season.
We’re certainly happy to read this and hope any reunion between the teen and their parents work out.
One of our associates, when he was a teen, used to ride Greyhound buses to endless cities. Sometimes with no real plan, just travel and see the United States.
He really loved Greyhound as a teen.
A new Greyhound bus, which features leather seats, extra legroom, Wi-Fi, power outlets, three-point seat belts, on-board restroom and wheelchair lift. (PRNewsFoto Greyhound Lines, Inc.)
Greyhound Providing Free Bus Tickets Home for Runaways this Holiday Season
News provided by
Dec 20, 2022, 11:51 ET
DALLAS, Dec. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Greyhound, the largest provider of intercity bus transportation in North America, is marking its 35th year providing life-saving transportation with its ‘Home Free’ program that helps runaway, homeless, and exploited youth between the ages of 12 and 21 reunite with their families (or legal guardians) through a free bus ticket home or to a stable and safe place. Greyhound started the free program in 1987 to demonstrate its commitment to servicing communities nationwide.
After several years, Greyhound partnered with the National Runaway Safeline (NRS), an organization that helps keep youth who have run away and those who are experiencing homelessness safe and off the streets, to amplify the reach of the program. Since 1995, the partnership has helped over 18,000 families by providing free bus tickets.
“While we help young people all year round through our Home Free program, its especially vital during the holidays,” said Lourdes Brown, Director of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, Greyhound Lines, Inc. “Holidays are about family coming together, and our Greyhound family is devoted to providing young people the chance to reconnect with their families and return to a safe environment.”
According to the NRS, each year approximately 4.2 million young people, ages 13 to 25, experience some form of homelessness, leaving them vulnerable for exploitation, assault, illness, and suicide. Home Free is designed to help ensure young people between the ages of 12 and 21 who have run away or are experiencing homelessness have a ticket to return home to their families or legal guardians.
In 2022, the NRS and Greyhound saw almost 600 requests for aid. The Home Free program has currently issued more than 220 free bus tickets for the year, valued at nearly $48,000.
“We are honored to continue our partnership with Greyhound Lines and the Home Free program,” said Susan Frankel, Chief Executive Officer, National Runaway Safeline. “Together we can continue to have a positive impact in providing a vital resource for youth and their families, and we look forward to serving as their charitable partner for the Home Free program for many more years.”
If you or someone you know has run away or is experiencing homelessness and wants to come home or needs help, contact 1-800-RUNAWAY (1-800-786-2929) or visit www.1800runaway.org. Click here to learn more about the program.
About Greyhound
Greyhound is the largest North American provider of intercity bus transportation, serving more than 1,700 destinations across the continent. For fare and schedule information and to buy tickets call 1-800-231-2222 or visit the website at Greyhound.com. For the latest news and travel deals, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.
About The National Runaway Safeline (NRS)
The National Runaway Safeline (NRS) is a national non-profit organization committed to ensuring that youth who have run away, are experiencing homelessness, or at risk of other adverse outcomes are safe and off the streets. Founded in 1971, NRS also operates the federally supported national communication system for youth and families ages 12 to 21, providing critical crisis intervention 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Each year, NRS makes hundreds of thousands of connections to help and hope through the 1-800-RUNAWAY hotline, online services at 1800RUNAWAY.org, including live chat, email, and forum, and prevention services.
For additional information, visit www.1800RUNAWAY.org or follow us @1800RUNAWAY on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and @nationalrunawaysafeline on TikTok.
SOURCE Greyhound Lines, Inc.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Times_Square
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Lost
https://teenhealthfx.com/answers/hot-topics/teenage-runaways.html
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