Chicago hope: homeless youths find a voice in Windy City theater troupe.

Michael Waller was just 6 years old when he spent his first night sleeping outside. He was homeless until he was old enough to join the military. Now, at 23, he's part of a youth theater group that takes stories like his to the stage to start a dialogue about queer homelessness.

"Once I saw issues like mine being told, I realized [youth homelessness] is more of a problem than I thought," said Waller, a straight ally who performs with the About Face Youth Theatre's newest production, The Home Project.

Queer actor Melanie Stinson collected hundreds of firsthand stories from homeless youths that make up The Home Project. For the 22-year-old, The Home Project is activism that "shares the story of someone whose voice can't be heard."

The play digs deeper than merely portraying the living situation of Chicago's 6,000 homeless queer youths. Randall Jenson, 22, performs a moving monologue as a trans girl and feels the project "gives a human face to a stereotype."

A youth-led audience "talk back" follows each show. "[The audience] assumes that once you get a home, life is great," says one actor. "I'm still struggling."

The Home Project has already reached 4,500 students in Illinois and is preparing for a tour of schools and community centers, much like About Face Youth Theatre's seven previous productions have since the troupe's inception in 1998.