WASHINGTON - Dressed smartly and feeling special, Sharayna Warmsley enjoyed the distance between yesterday and the darker days.

Warmsley used to bed down at night in cars, or on the street, or cry herself to sleep in homeless shelters meant for adults, not frightened teenagers.

She did her best to keep those memories at bay as she stood to applause in a room at the White House complex, where the Obama administration announced a far-reaching plan that officials say can end homelessness in America.

"I was very surprised to get this invitation," said Warmsley, who now lives in an apartment on Columbus' North Side. "I feel good. But for all these people to see me now, in a better place, makes me think of the others who aren't."

Warmsley is among four young people whose fight to secure stable housing was featured in an April story in The Dispatch.

She and Angela Lariviere, director of the Youth Empowerment Program at the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, were asked to attend the launch of a plan that aims to prevent and end homelessness for families, veterans and youths in five to 10 years.

Lariviere and others say they welcome any attention focused on teens and young adults, who have long been underserved and overlooked.

Many are former foster children or youths involved in the juvenile-justice system. Others simply do not have families willing or able to care for them. As a group, they often have the least access to housing subsidies, health care and incomes sufficient for independence.

The plan released yesterday said some studies estimate that more than 100,000 youths are living on the street or in other public places. Fewer than 4,000 federally subsidized housing units exist for them nationwide.

Barbara Poppe, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, said federal officials know that must change.

"I am focused on youth," said Poppe, the former head of the Community Shelter Board in Columbus. "That goal comes out of the horrors that I've seen in Ohio and around the nation."

Dubbed "Opening Doors," the plan marks the first time that the federal government has laid out a homelessness strategy. It doesn't carry a price tag but outlines a series of efforts - such as improving discharge planning from foster care, veterans hospitals and jails - that communities can undertake in partnership with government, charitable and faith-based agencies.

Poppe created and guided to national renown the Rebuilding Lives program in Columbus. Like that program, the federal plan aims to fight homelessness with permanent housing and supportive services instead of temporary shelter beds.

But Poppe said there is no uniform approach to helping the 640,000 Americans who are without housing.

"We recognize that the best ideas to end homelessness are found outside of Washington," she said. But "we need federal leadership to set out goals and timelines."

The HEARTH Act, enacted by Congress in May 2009 and signed by President Barack Obama, mandated the creation of a "national strategic plan" to end homelessness.

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said solutions save taxpayers money by reducing hospitalizations, incarcerations and other expensive social problems. He said he thinks the plan will find broad support.

"Homelessness is one issue that hasn't fallen prey to the tired politics of division," he said.

Donovan said although progress has been made in recent years, it isn't enough. "Sadly, there are more homeless Vietnam-era veterans than troops who died in the war," he said.

Lariviere said advocates in Ohio and across the nation must make sure the framework yields results. "We have to stay at the table and do the groundwork, to make sure that the plan gets implemented for everyone."

Warmsley, now 22, said she used to think that no adult cared what happened to her. Years working with Lariviere convinced her otherwise, and the new report - which carries her picture - gave more reason for hope.

The full report, titled "Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," is at www.usich.gov.

rprice@dispatch.com