BRIDGET BENNETT

Tiffany sweeps outside her room at Shannon West.

Southern Nevada has one of the highest rates of unaccompanied homeless youth in the nation. Shannon West Homeless Youth Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one of few shelters providing assistance for them. They navigate questions about their gender identity and sexuality, what they want to do for work, how to save money. They fall in and out of love, get jobs and open their first savings accounts. Through the isolating journey of homelessness, these teens and young adults find a sense of normalcy in navigating adulthood, hardships and victories together. These images capture life at Shannon West over the summer of 2016.

Chris, left, shares his music with another resident in a common area.

During his first weeks as a resident, Rob checks in at the center’s office. “Even though we’re homeless, we’re still growing, we’re still on a trajectory,” said Rob, a 22-year-old Nevadan and former University of Nevada Las Vegas student. “People are still needing to connect and still want to connect.”

Xavier makes his way to the main building at Shannon West as the sun sets.

In Tim’s room at Shannon West Homeless Youth Center, Tim gets dressed for the center’s high school graduation celebration.

A resident writes song lyrics in a notebook.

Residents work on their nightly chores.

Rob searches through clothing donations at the center for something to wear to his first job interview since becoming homeless. When Rob was evicted from his apartment, they withheld his possessions which included clothing, personal belongings and identification documents.

Craig gets a haircut from another Shannon West resident.

Residents share a bike ride.

Tiffany, an aspiring model, scrolls through her phone in her room where images of past photo shoots are posted.

Tiffany sits on top of a laundry machine across from Sam.

Shannon West residents trickled home from work or class and sat down to eat. That night, they didn’t worry about finding a place to sleep. Instead, they played basketball, shared songs between one pair of headphones.