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Group wants youth homeless shelter

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC-DT)-- Every night more than 1,800 youth are homeless in Minnesota, and in Rochester there are very few places for them to turn. The Rochester Area Family Y has applied for a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Corporation to help buy a house in Rochester and turn it into a homeless shelter

"I was selling drugs to make money for me and my girlfriend to eat," says one teen who was once homeless.

A group called LINK based out of the Y is trying to helped some of these homeless youth. The letter stand for Living Independently with Knowledge and their goal is to get homeless young adults back on their feet.

"We need something here we do," one member says.

LINK has been trying to raise money to purchase a house from Olmsted county so that they can have an actual building where homeless youth can stay.

"It would've been a lot easier if I had known if I could go somewhere," say one member about their homeless experience.

So far LINK still hasn't gotten the $10,000 they need to get the youth homeless shelter running which is why they're hoping to get the a $50,000 grant from PEPSI.