YP2F Podcast Ep 45 Ft. Away Home America

The New Deal to End Youth Homelessness Ft. Josh Kogan & Aurora Higgs

On this week's episode Tonny sits down with Josh Kogan (Director of Public Policy) and Aurora Higgs (Associate Director of Communications) from Away Home America to talk about their New Deal to End Youth Homelessness—a bold, nationwide policy roadmap built by and for young people with lived experience. Together, they break down what it means to organize across states like California, Texas, and North Carolina; how storytelling transforms policy; and why belonging, faith, and fear all shape the systems we’re trying to change.

From Josh’s journey out of conservative ministry into policy advocacy to Aurora’s insight on trans leadership and building authentic coalitions, this episode shines a light on what real transformation looks like—from congregate shelters to cash transfer programs, from performative “reform” to radical belonging.

Diving deeper into this week’s episode

A Way Home America transforms systems through public policy to prevent and end homelessness for Black, Indigenous, youth of color, and LGBTQIA+ youth, on a path to housing justice for all. We are a leader in the youth homelessness movement, uniting with national partners to ensure our systems work for all youth. Our approach is rooted in the belief that lived experience provides a unique perspective into solving the problems before us—our leadership team and staff are made up primarily of individuals with firsthand experiences of homelessness or housing insecurity. We serve youth and young adults ages 13-30 who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness, with a vision that all young people in the United States will have access to a variety of housing options through transformative public policy solutions that affirm equitable housing as a human right. As Josh Kogan shared in our recent conversation. A “solvable” problem: Behind the fight to end youth homelessness. Fundamental Issues to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness

The New Deal to End Youth Homelessness

A Way Home America's New Deal to End Youth Homelessness is a bold, comprehensive federal policy framework that offers a transformative roadmap for how young people—particularly Black, Brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ youth—can be supported to thrive in our society. Built by and for young people with lived experience, the New Deal represents the most ambitious proposal of its kind for youth and young adult homelessness.

At its core, the New Deal is a plan to move from point A (our current reality) to point Z (a transformative future). It's not about reform—it's about transformation. As Aurora Higgs explains, "Our new deal is ambitious, but we are ambitious. We can't move towards a future state that is transformative without being ambitious. Otherwise we're just landing in reformist policy, which there's enough of that."

Five pillars of the new deal:

• Housing Justice – Moving beyond congregate shelters to solutions that center freedom, dignity, and choice
• Child and Family Wellbeing Justice – Transforming systems that serve young people and their families
• Economic Justice – Including innovative approaches like direct cash transfers that give young people agency
• Immigration Justice – Addressing the unique barriers faced by immigrant youth
• Transformative Justice – Reimagining accountability and safety outside punitive systems