PORTLAND, Maine — Tiffani Melia finds comfort among old editions of National Geographic with a glue stick in her hand, focused on the blank page she is about to transform.
The book of collages is more than just a way for her to express herself. It is a way to transport herself.
"I feel like ever since I was little art was my escape," she said. " The way I coped with everything going on in my life."
Tiffani was 16 when she entered the foster care system. After three years of jumping from house to house and family to family, she turned 18, with nowhere to go.
"I aged out without a family. I was never adopted. Nobody got permanency over me, so I was kind of on my own," she said.
Her story is not uncommon in Maine. Many teens who age out of the state's foster care system end up at shelters or on the streets.
Preble Street Joe Kreisler Teen Shelter is a place where many in Greater Portland find refuge.
The facility in downtown Portland has a total of 28 beds for kids ages 16 to 21. It is open every night, 365 days a year.
"What we've historically seen is that youth age out of foster care at the age of 18 without an option," Director of Teen Shelter Services Kiersten Mulcahy said.
Mulcahy said they are always looking for ways to, not just provide a place for youth to sleep, but to help them succeed.
"It's getting to build relationships with young people and really find out who they are and what they're looking for and then connecting to them to resources that best meet their needs," Mulcahy said.
In a city that is facing a homelessness crisis, young people are among the most vulnerable.
An estimated 20 percent of youth in care become homeless the moment they turn 18, according to the National Foster Youth Institute. Nationwide, 50 percent of the homeless population spent time in foster care.
A federal initiative started in 2019 called Foster Youth to Independence is designed to help.
It provides housing vouchers to those who age out up to 24 years old, allowing them a chance to find a place to live and start on the path to independence.
"We had over a 98 percent success rate of those youth remaining housed after one year," Leah Bruns, with Portland Housing Authority, said.
Bruns said that is not just due to federal money, but also support from the John T. Gorman Foundation.
The housing authority is able to have staff who can help walk youth through the process and make sure they have what they need.
"I'm a mom with two adopted kids out of foster care, and you know, from my perspective, it's the least we can do," she said.
"We're failing them if the day they age out of foster care they have no place to go," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Last month, Collins sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Urban Development to call for more support for the FYI program.
Weeks later HUD announced it was releasing $30 million in additional funding, but Collins said there are still delays in getting the help to kids in need.
"We've seen an increased number of teenagers that have aged out of the foster care system not getting the help they need," Collins said. "This is something that we're pushing HUD to make sure that those vouchers are issued promptly."
As for Melia, she is now an advocate for others in the state through the Youth Leadership Advisory Team.
Leaders with the organization gathered at the state house in March to celebrate the Opportunity Passport program, an initiative through Jobs for Maine Graduates.
Money saved by young people enrolled in the program is matched dollar for dollar up to $1,000 a year. The funding has now surpassed a total of $2 million and helped more than 700 people.
"At age 25, I've worked through many challenges no one my age should have to work through," Melia said at the event.
Finally, she has a place of her own in Portland, along with her cat and, of course, her art. Melia graduated college and hopes to one day be an art therapist.
Melia said she would not be here if it were not for the help she got from federal and state support programs.
"It honestly saved my life," Melia said. "I really don't know where I'd be."