It’s only July, but “back to school” fever is everywhere. Our local drugstore is already filled with displays of notebooks, folders, and pencils. It seems like the school year just ended! Many children dread going back to school because they don’t want to give up lazy days at the beach with friends or because they’ve heard rumors that their new teacher is too strict.
Unfortunately, there are other children who dread going back to school because they’re homeless and lack the essential tools they need to succeed in school. They’re worried about battling the negative stigma of being homeless–and like all other kids, they just want to fit in.
A recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that nearly 700,000 people—more than the population of the entire state of Vermont—were homeless in a single night. Although the report showed that individual homelessness had remained fairly stable in the reporting period, the rate of homeless families had actually increased. In fact, homelessness among people in families—a “typical” family being a single mother with one or two children—grew 9%.
A desire to help homeless children succeed in school is why we at Feed The Children started the Homeless Education and Literacy Program (HELP), which provides books, school supplies, ready-to-eat foods, and basic personal necessities. Our goal is to ensure that homeless students have the tools they need to maintain high attendance rates and perform at grade level. In 2008, we reached 100,000 students and we have big plans for the 2009-2010 school year: we plan to reach 120,000 students.
What we’ve found is that while we provide the school supplies and books to students, we’re also providing self-esteem.
