Introduction

Homeless youth often remain invisible in public discourse, their voices unheard in media, politics, and academia. Over four years, I shared the daily lives of 20 young people experiencing homelessness in Paris and New York. Building trust and proximity, I accompanied them through their routines of survival, movement, and hope. Each was invited to narrate their life story freely, without constraint or direction. In Paris, I met most participants near Châtelet, a key gathering place, and through a prevention club open to all youth in difficulty. During winter, some stayed in squats or with acquaintances. In New York, locating participants was harder. I met them around Midtown, in Penn Station, and through shelters, including one for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. The city’s streets and institutions revealed distinct patterns of exclusion and adaptation. Throughout both cities, I followed these young people in their environments such as streets, parks, subways, shelters, soup kitchens, and hospitals, listening to how they navigated instability and sought dignity. Their testimonies reveal intertwined stories of hardship, resilience, and humanity. What follows gives voice to Jauffrey, Lamia, Moussa, Viviana, and others who, despite precarity, continually reinvent their ways of living and belonging.