Currently, 14-year-olds are living on the street and in temporary shelters. They're runaways, they've been abandoned, they've been rejected, and they've been abused. They're established citizens of Skid Row. Every year, more than 2 million kids in America will face a period of homelessness, and because of this, many of them will turn to prostitution, gang membership, drug abuse, and alcoholism.

Forty percent of the United States homeless populations are under the age of 18, and Hispanics make up 20 percent of the total homeless population. So, with approximately 640,000 homeless in a given year, that means around 51,200 Latino youths experience homelessness on a yearly basis.

There are shades of homelessness: street dwellers and the sheltered but displaced; there's degrees of homelessness: episodic, transitional and chronic; and there are levels of suffering: starvation, mental illnesses, disability, and sickness - all occurring daily on the streets of many metropolitan areas.

Many homeless Latino youths leave home because of economic problems, family issues and residential instability. Fifty percent report conflict or physical abuse for factors in homelessness; and children who leave the foster care system and juvenile justice system are more likely to become homeless within six months of their release, because they don't have families or support.

Fifty-seven percent of homeless kids spend at least one day of each month without food; Seventy-five percent of teens use drugs and alcohol to self-medicate in order to dull traumatic experiences; and 5,000 young people will die each year because of assault, illness, or suicide while living on the streets.

Eleven years ago, Peter McQueen and Keith Decker founded a Chicago-based organization that served youth, Fifty-percent of the community served was Latino. Since its inception, La Casa Norte has provided "an environment for the homeless to learn, seek guidance, and get back on their feet." This terrific resource offers site housing throughout the city, life planning, and engagement programs created to designate homes to the homeless youth of Chicago.

Sol Flores, the organization's founding Executive Director, was laid off of from her management consulting job which had after graduating from college. It was a position where she made more money than her parents. The time off allowed her to take the time to look at her priorities, and move into the service field. Then, she found her place at La Casa Norte.

"I was the only person of color and the only Latina. It's important that communities are led by people who reflect that community," Flores said during an interview with NBC Latino. "It really put the five-star stamp of approval on our work with policymakers saying, hey we're validating your model as a model for change."

Establishments and organizations like this one help to get young Latinos off of the streets and into safe homes for, perhaps, the first time in their short lives. Teens between 10 and 18 are more likely to become homeless than adults. That young age leaves them more vulnerable to physical harm and malnutrition, which is why it's important that teens turn to organizations like La Casa Norte or the National Coalition for the Homeless when they are faced with homelessness. But, unfortunately, Latinos, in particular, are less likely to make use of public assistance even though there are programs designed to specifically assist the Latino community, even offering bilingual service.