Elgin Community College Student, Robert Peluso has dreams of one day working with animals. Like many other students, Peluso went to ECC to begin his goal towards his dream job with hopes of transferring to a four-year university. However, Peluso not only faces the struggle of being homeless but also being homeless as a member of the LGBT community.

“I don’t like asking for money, I don’t do drugs, I don’t like to panhandle, I don’t like to advertise being homeless because its just never fun to talk about,” Peluso said when it comes to talking about homelessness.

As many as 40% of LGBT adults are vulnerable to homelessness due to the widespread lack of nondiscrimination protections. One of the most common reasons that they end up homeless is that they are forced out by their families because they aren’t accepted.

“With the LGBT culture, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t really accept the idea of a different sexuality, so a lot of parents are kicking out their children, which unfortunately leads them to be homeless, especially with Trump in office, it has caused more problems with the LGBT culture, which has been exceeding with homelessness and LGBTQ individuals,” said Alana McKirahan, Students Who Are Not Silent Treasurer.

Before coming to ECC, Peluso was living in Flordia with his mother. Robert then moved in with his grandfather to take care of him, Peluso then came to Illinois for a change of scenery.

“I was at a point in my life where I just switched jobs, I just paid off my new car, I just wanted a change I left everything behind and moved up here and I decided to go to ECC in the fall of 2015, one of the reasons I came out here is because I had a lot more friends and I knew a lot more people,” Peluso said on his decision to move to Illinois.

Peluso had planned to stay with his father, but his brother had a drug problem, and despite being supportive, Peluso did not want to be in that environment. Peluso then talked about his struggles with being homeless and LGBTQ.

“The struggle is real and just recently my friends/roommates and least I thought they were just put all of my stuff outside, because they had their addictions going on, at the end of the day my world just turned upside down, I constantly struggle with where am I going to sleep at night, if I am going to eat that day, or avoiding people out on the street,” Peluso said.

Throughout the month of November, SWANS (Students Who Are Not Silent) will be hosting a Homeless Youth Awareness Month, where they had different events to either talk about the issue at hand like having a professional come in to talk about stress and what to do if you ever found yourself in a position of homelessness, or some workshops to help them find a career, like resume building and a public speaking workshop.

“Unfortunately some schools, more particularly high school didn’t really teach us that stuff, and in the real world you have to build a resume, and depending on your career path you will need to learn how to speak in public, so we are trying to help out others by helping them in the future,” Mckirahan said.

Even though everyone faces different struggles when it comes to homelessness, but no matter what it can get scary.

“We may not have the same struggles, but it is definitely real and it is scary out there,” Peluso said on other homeless LGBTQ.

Peluso said he wants to help others like himself who are homeless and LGBT at ECC.

“One thing that I want to bring to ECC is ending homelessness for good. Finding somewhere in the Elgin area, a shelter to hold refuge for students who have nowhere to go, a safe zone where there is no violence, no drugs, just a peaceful place where can go study, and go to school, and be a better functioning society,” Peluso said.

SWANS will also be collecting clothes for homeless shelters throughout the month of November any donations can go to the SWANS office in Student Life.

McKirahan said one of the most important things that people can do to help is to continue to be advocates.

“Advocate your high school, college, write a letter to your senators saying that this is an issue, give statistics on it, just speak out,” Mckirahan said.

Despite his situation, Peluso does not give up on his dreams and is determined to succeed.

“Being homeless doesn’t mean being hopeless, I dedicated my life to this school, I am in it to win it,” Peluso said.