PULLMAN – Once a homeless teenager, Roy Juarez, Jr. founded a human development company when he was a college freshman. Now he’s on a mission to help America’s youth know they have what it takes to succeed.
He will speak at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, in Cleveland Hall 30E. The free public presentation is hosted by the Department of Teaching and Learning.
Juarez is on a nationwide speaking tour he calls “Homeless by Choice,” in hopes of reaching and inspiring an audience of 100,000 young people. He stays with anyone who will open their home to him – a throwback to his days as a homeless teenager.
Among those impressed by his presentation was Teri Kessie, principal at Pasco’s Chiawana High School. Her daughter, Molly Kessie, is enrolled in the teacher education program at WSU.
Juarez founded the company America’s Business Leaders in 2005, while he was a student at Hardin-Simmons University. His organizational skills surfaced earlier. At age 12 he created and headed a community youth outreach program in San Antonio, Texas.
However, when he was 14, he and two young siblings became homeless due to a violent divorce. After spending two and a half years as a “couch surfer” living in dozens of homes, he found a stable family that would take him in.
He recently appeared on CNN with his mentor in a segment about Latinos in America. In 2009, his story was featured in the book “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Extraordinary Teens.”
More information is available on his website, www.homelessbychoice.com.