Teen Who Lived in a Tree Finds a New Home
Aug. 25, 2011 — -- The teen who once spent two weeks living in a tree has a new home. George, 18, who found shelter in the branches of a tree in San Francisco in 2009, moved in with his grandparents in Washington state earlier this summer and plans to attend Whatcom Community College in the fall, the teen told "20/20" this week.
George reconnected with his grandparents last year and spent Christmas with them. It was a time, he said, of "a lot of shopping, love, arms around me."
George's new life contrasts starkly with the one he led some two years ago.
In August 2009, the woman he called "Mom" -- an aunt who had raised George since he was a baby -- bought him a Greyhound bus ticket from Missouri and gave him what she said was an address for relatives in San Francisco.
But before he arrived, George said he received some shocking news: His aunt told him, over the phone, that the address she provided was not for relatives but for a McDonald's restaurant.
"My mom called me and told me that I didn't have any relatives in San Francisco and I was basically screwed," he said.
PHOTOS: George and other homeless teens.
George's aunt denied this, telling "20/20" that George did, in fact, have relatives in San Francisco but that she did not know their names.
All of a sudden, George found himself homeless -- and he wasn't alone. There are nearly two million homeless youth in America. In San Francisco alone, social workers see some 6,000 cases of homeless teens a year.
Toby Eastman, a San Francisco social worker, sees many teens like George.
"We see a lot of young people that are just rejected from their family," she said.
Eastman says that teens like George who are rejected by their families face a trauma that results in a sort of emotional distance.
When we first met George, he said he didn't miss his family at all.
"If I think about them then I'll just bring back dumb memories I don't need to worry about," he said.
