When driving past homeless people with signs labeled “Homeless with 2 Children,” Storey Wertheimer would often ask her parents where the children were—but nobody knew the answer. It wasn’t until she joined her school’s Speech and Debate team and did a speech on the topic that Wertheimer learned more than two million children in America don’t have homes. After delivering her speech about helping homeless children dozens of times, Wertheimer decided to take things a step further to help spark change.

“One thing I had learned was that many homeless children don’t have access to means of gaining literacy, which further entraps them in this vicious cycle of homelessness and poverty,” says Wertheimer. “So I created Verses for the Voiceless, a non-profit organization hoping to use my passion for writing to help those in need.”

The senior at New West Charter High School in Los Angeles recently published Animals Are Out of this World!, a book that features a compilation of poetry about pets and outer space written by Wertheimer and her classmates. 100% of proceeds from book sales go to Verses for the Voiceless, which will use the money specifically to support literacy programs for homeless children.

“Though still children ourselves, we’re determined to make a meaningful impact,” says Wertheimer. “We want to spread the word about our book and our vision to help homeless children.”

Animals Are Out of this World! retails for $9.99 on Amazon. Prices may vary by retailer. For more information about the non-profit, visit versesforthevoiceless.com and to purchase the book, click here.

Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk