Kelsey Batton is a high school senior taking college level courses. She is also one of the thousands of homeless Missouri youth who have needed more than an eraser to start over. When she was 10 years old, her family moved into a van.

"At one point, my family lived in a van for...a month, and that was really hard," said Batton. "We went from hotel to hotel, and we didn't have an apartment. Sometimes we had no electricity and no heat. "

While Batton migrated between lodging spots, Zachary Smith was kicked out of his mother's house. Andrea Rhoden found herself with no phone and no place to go.

As Sol House program director Heather Windham said, "Some young people phase out of the foster care system and have no one and nothing."

Sol House, a service of Columbia's Rainbow House, is something: home for eight Columbia teens, ages 16 to 21. Its staff helps the youths with more than just algebra. Factor in life skills such as cooking and cleaning, counseling and game nights too. Batton waited two months to get into Sol House. Rhoden now has a job and Smith is going to college.

But with a waiting list more than double its occupancy, Sol House's program director wishes more youth could have a turn.

"Some of them are sleeping out in the streets, " Windham said. "Some of them are sleeping in camps out in the wooded area."

For Smith, the key to success has been perseverance.

"If you can stand being homeless for a bit just to find a great, awesome, supportive place such as Sol House, you'll be able to overcome just about anything," he said.

Rhoden cherishes the safety Sol House has brought her.

"We don't have to worry about being out on the streets," she said. "It's just a safe place to call home."

It is a place where, for teens like Batton, being homeless is no longer part of the equation.

SOL HOUSE CONTACT INFO:

Heather Windham, Program Director

Phone: 573-449-0182