By the time Dilinger (a pseudonym) experienced homelessness, he had already endured significant trauma.
His grandparents, who had raised him due to his parents’ drug and mental health issues, died when he was 15. At 17, Dilinger moved in with his father, who was later arrested on drug charges and then murdered. At 19, he moved in with his mother for the first time since he was a toddler, but that arrangement didn’t last. She kicked Dilinger out of her house because she thought his relationship with a trans woman was “disgusting.”
