Virtual learning is a new realm that everyone has had to navigate during these past few months. Teachers have stepped up and have become creative in their new online classrooms. Parents have had to balance work requirements with helping their children. Students have slowly adapted in an attempt to establish some sort of routine and sense of normalcy. However, for some students, concerns about virtual exposure of their living situation is just one of many worries during this time. The pandemic and the shift to virtual learning has disproportionately impacted a specific population of students: those experiencing homelessness. 
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Social-emotional learning (SEL) is one of the most important components of youth development. With students engaging in e-learning, seemingly trivial but valuable lessons have become more difficult to implement. Whether it’s having a conversation with a friend about who will take the next turn on the slide or discussing how it looks to feel “excited” or “disappointed”, SEL is critical. Especially for students, such as those experiencing homelessness, who may live in more isolated environments, the long-term impact of e-learning on social-emotional development is significant.  
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​          According to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, 76,998 people experienced homelessness in Chicago throughout 2018. Of those, the number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness (ages 14-24) in Chicago is around 11,376. With the pandemic creating more barriers and challenges, including unprecedented levels of unemployment, these numbers are likely to have increased in 2020. 

          Experiencing homelessness is difficult for anyone, but especially for youth who are still in key developmental stages in their lives. LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately experience homelessness compared to non-LGBTQ+ youth. While approximately 7% of youth identify as LGBTQ+, they account for up to 40% of homeless youth. A study published by Chapin Hill at the University of Chicago in 2017 found that LGBTQ+ youth have a 120% higher risk of homelessness than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. They also found that Black youth faced an 83% greater risk of homelessness, and Hispanic non-white youth faced a 33% higher risk compared to their White counterparts. From this data, we can see that youth who are experiencing homelessness often face unique and compounded challenges based on their intersecting identities.