ENTERPRISE — At the Alternative Education school run by Building Healthy Families, “Tyler” and his brother “Matt” (both names are pseudonyms here) are the school’s two homeless students. Tyler’s mother cannot provide a home for the brothers, so they temporarily “couch-surf” at separate residences while their mother stays with co-workers.

“Our mother’s been trying to find us a home for quite some time. She’s trying, and I’m just like ‘it’s OK, mom.’ It’s not easy, especially out here,” Tyler said.

Tyler and his brother remain quite close. “We’re basically attached at the hip since we’ve moved here because we’ve realized we’re all we’ve got.”

During the tourist season Tyler works at a local restaurant. “I wash dishes and bus a lot of tables. I like working. School is basically half-day and working gave me structure and kept me going,” Tyler said.

Other than attending a school outside of Oregon for a year, the Alt Ed school in Enterprise provided all the boys’ high school education.

Other than finding permanent housing, Tyler’s immediate goals include finishing high school and attending community college with the hope of eventually finding employment as a tattoo artist and opening his own shop.