After reaching the age of 18, a high school student from California found himself on the streets of Salt Lake City, having been abandoned by his sole parent, his mother. With no place to go, the young teenager had to spend his birthday searching for shelter or a way to return home.
The HomesForHomeless TikTok account posted a video featuring an anonymous teenage boy discussing his experience of homelessness during an interview. The boy shared that once he turned 18, his mother essentially informed him that he was completely on his own.
During the interview, the teenager appeared downcast and filled with sadness as he recounted the story of being abandoned by the sole parent and family he had known. Without any alternatives, he found himself in Salt Lake City, Utah, desperately searching for a temporary place to spend the night.
The teenager was hoping to find his way back to California if that didn’t work. The boy was asked if he was saying he was stranded in a foreign country, and the student agreed. Asked how long he had been on the streets, he said:
“This is my first day. Today is my 18th birthday”.
It was heartbreaking, to say the least, to see the sad look in his eyes as he recounted how he spent his 18th birthday trying to fend for himself. As he told his story, he looked frightened, abandoned and on the verge of tears.
The interviewer asked the student if he knew where he was going, how he was going to get back home, or if he had any goals now that he was alone. He revealed that his “main goal” was to return to California in the hope of finishing high school.
Asked what his three wishes were, he said he hoped his father was still alive, that he could see his sisters and that he could return home. The abandoned boy appeared confused, carrying a large rucksack with only the belongings he had left home with.
Another thought the teenager’s mother must be a “real piece of work”.
How TikTok Users Reacted to the Teen’s Story

Someone else added a sad emoticon and confessed: “I can’t imagine leaving my child like that. Another said that some people shouldn’t be allowed to be parents, saying how sad they felt for the teenager and that they could see the “sadness in his eyes”. Someone else added:
“The pain in his eyes is just crazy.”
The social media user hoped the boy would succeed in life and show his mother he didn’t need her. Another slammed the boy’s mother for abandoning her child.
The same person told how her daughters would always have a roof over their heads as long as she was still breathing. She sent love and well wishes to the 18-year-old and prayed to God to protect the homeless boy.
Someone else figured the teenager’s mother must be a “real piece of work” to have placed that “good young man” on the street. The social media user also extended their prayers for the abandoned son.