Monet Spencer, 18, smiles as she is photographed in her Hill District apartment. Spencer was left homeless after her mother passed away in February 2016, leaving her and her twin brother to care for themselves. Spencer now lives on her own, in a subsidized apartment. Spencer attends Brashear High School and was recently accepted to Carlow University.
Monet Spencer, 18, walks from Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 after tutoring young elementary students on February 13, 2017. Thirty percent of Spencer's salary from her tutoring job helps pay for her apartment at Action Housing's My Place, which provides housing and intensive case management services to young people who have aged out of the foster care system in Allegheny County and are either homeless or at risk homelessness.
Monet Spencer reads to elementary students at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 on Feb. 8, 2017. She tutors at the school Mondays though Thursdays for a job through the Neighborhood Learning Alliance.
Monet Spencer looks at a game with Tya Carter, 10, as Aminyah Dooley, 5, looks on after an after-school tutoring session at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5. Spencer earns about $100 every two weeks from the tutoring job. She pays $50 a month in rent.
Monet Spencer, 18, left, sits with her best friend, Maya Smallwood, 18, at her North Side home where Maya and her mother took Spencer in to live after her mother died and she was left homeless.
This is Monet Spencer's home. Here, she's looking through videos on her computer. She uses her phone to connect to the Internet through a hotspot. Spencer and her twin brother were considered homeless after their mother died. Spencer eventually acquired an apartment through ACTION-Housing's MyPlace Youth program. "It was the happiest day of my life," Spencer says about getting her own apartment.
Monet Spencer, 18, plays her flute during her band class at Brashear High School on February 16, 2017.
Even after losing her mother and becoming homeless, Monet Spencer continued to make it to classes at Brashear High School. She was recently accepted to Carlow University.
Monet Spencer, 18, works on a computer during a study hall at Brashear High School on February 16, 2017.
Monet Spencer, 18, walks home from her job tutoring at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 in Pittsburgh's Hill District on February 13, 2017.
Monet Spencer, 18, was left homeless after her mother passed away in February 2016, leaving her and her twin brother to care for themselves. Spencer now lives on her own, in a subsidized apartment. Spencer attends Brashear High School and was recently accepted to Carlow University. You can read Monet's story at PublicSource.