KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
Every year, American Public Square, an organization that brings people together for civil dialogue, has students research and produce a program around one topic.
This year, the students chose homelessness as their topic and invited community leaders from Kansas City, Missouri, and and local organizations to their program.
The students, from high schools throughout Kansas City, realize there's no one-size-fits-all approach.
They believe the community can do its part to get closer to a solution.
Ricky Barnes, a student ambassador for American Public Square, is a junior at University Academy.
"Go have a conversation with some of these people," Barnes said. "They have amazing stories and have lived amazing lives before homelessness."
Barnes and the rest of the ambassadors had conversations with people experiencing homelessness as part of their research.
Sistine Leapai, a junior at Belton High School, said she had preconceived opinions about what to expect before they met with the homeless.
"I thought they’d follow a similar stereotype...having issues with drugs or alcohol, but talking to them, I learned people are just like me and their life changed in like a day," Leapai said.
During the program, a community advocate said progress starts with believing that homelessness is solvable.
The Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness shared there are 1,200 youth in the Kansas City, Missouri, School District who don't have homes.
As of last year, there were 2,200 people in KCMO experiencing homelessness each night.
Sophia Marien-Brovont, a senior at St. Teresa's Academy, said from their conversations with people experiencing homelessness there were a few stories that resonated.
"He was an Amazon delivery driver and a car ran a red light and hit his truck," she said. "He didn't have health insurance so he couldn't pay his medical bills."
KSHB 41 has shared information about Kansas City's ZERO KC plan to end homelessness, the Delano Project to help youth access emergency shelters and transitional living programs, and other resources and programs throughout the area.
Even with some solutions, students feel that everyday people can do more.
"Because they're not in their shoes," Barnes said. "That's the shortest way I can put it...help them instead of kicking them to the curb."
As these students took time to learn a world they had never experienced and create a program for civil dialogue, they don't want it to just start and end with conversations.
"Practicing what you preach.," Leapai said. "You can't talk about making a change if you're not going to make a change."
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