"I Became Homeless at Age 16"

“I was on the verge of graduating from high school, and then everything went downhill. My mom was working but it wasn’t enough to pay the rent, and I wasn’t able to help much because of school. So, I became homeless at 16, and the whole family got split up.”

How does one become homeless? Everyone’s story is different, of course. This is Nate’s story, homeless and alone at age 16. Wandering the streets, trying to figure out what to do. He eventually found his way to the Cosgrove Center, Cleveland’s largest day drop-in center for people facing homelessness. This is where we talked with Nate and heard his story. It was so inspiring to hear what has happened in his life since he first found himself on the streets five years ago.

Join us on May 8, 9, or 11 to hear more of Nates’s story in The Hope that Unites Us: Stories from the Streets! These performances feature the stories of four people who have experienced homelessness intertwined with music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Jessie Montgomery, J.S. Bach, William Grant Still, Bela Bartok, and George Walker. Hear powerful music while gaining insight into what it’s like to be homeless in Cleveland. You can catch this program:

Wednesday, May 8 @ 10:45 am at the Cosgrove Center (1736 Superior Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114)

Thursday, May 9 @ 6:00 pm (5:30 pm doors open) at Bloom Bakery (200 Public Square #129, Cleveland, OH 44114) *RSVP required - email hello@renovaremusic.org with the names of those in your party*

Saturday, May 11 @ 3:00 pm at the East Cleveland Public Library’s Greg L. Reese Performing Arts Center (14101 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44112)

Admission is free for all performances! Head over to our calendar page for more details about each event.

We hope you will be our guest at one of these performances next month!

This project is supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts, and in partnership with the Cleveland Institute of Music, Bloom Bakery, and the Cosgrove Center, a Catholic Charities organization.