No one really stops to think and/or notice the possibility that their classmates or friends have nowhere to call home. When you have a stable home and come from a healthy family you don’t think about such circumstances where students come to class but leave the school worrying about their next meal or shelter for the night. Students who experience homelessness are by definition “students who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, that is, students living in shared housing, hotels or motels, shelters, and unsheltered places” (Cia, 2021). Any student who is living with a caregiver who is not their parent or guardian is considered homeless, and students who do not have a place to go to regularly, also fall into the category of being homeless.
Different Circumstances of Homelessness
As the years go by, the rates of homeless students continue to rise. Here in New York City, they “enrolled approximately 129,000 homeless students during the 2016-17 school year, and became the school district with the most homeless students” (Cia, 2021). It is indeed shocking to see such high numbers of homeless students right where I live. I would have never thought that so many students were forced to take on the stress of finding shelter every day at such a youthful age. I can’t help but ask what causes someone to be homeless? In the documentary “The Homestretch” the journey of three students who are homeless is documented and we actually learn of some circumstances that may cause a person to be homeless. The first student we saw was Roque. Rogue’s parents are divorced. His father got in trouble with immigration services, so he had to leave, and his mother remarried very quickly. Roque then felt betrayed by both parents and could not bear living with his mother. Kasey was another student who was homeless. She was treated unfairly for being a lesbian and it was a very toxic environment when she tried living at both her mother and grandmother’s house. Lastly, Anthony left his home after experiencing a toxic living situation as well. He was adopted into a family and later faced abuse from his adoptive father.
Helpful Resources
These are only a few examples of how teens can end up homeless. You can only imagine life for someone who is just in elementary school experiencing homelessness with their parent(s). After watching the documentary and reading a few articles, I was reminded of a book called “Fly Away Home” by Eve Bunting. In this book, a little boy and his father have been homeless ever since the mother passed. They decided to seek shelter at the airport and would go to a different airline every day so they would not get caught. When the father would go to work another homeless family at the airport looked after the son until he returned. Just like the students in the documentary, the little boy and his family are homeless, yet their story is different. What makes this book very lovely to read is that the boy has hope that they will one day get their own place. After seeing a bird, who’s been stuck at the airport for days, finally escape through the doors, the little boy clings on to this and knows that one day he will escape homelessness.
I also thought of this gospel song called “Better Days” by Le’Andrea Johnson. I feel like anyone who may be going through homelessness should give this song a try. It is a very optimistic song that pushes you to keep going in life no matter what. You may feel alone, abandoned and/or hurt but there are better days. It will get better and sometimes we all just need to hear someone tell us and remind us to stay hopeful. Someone who may be going through homelessness can definitely find some comfort in this song and gain more motivation whenever they feel the need to give up
Homelessness is a very scary thing. It is hard to imagine what goes through these students’ minds. The majority of the class only have to worry about their grades, but they have to constantly look for shelter and at the same time try to succeed in their education as well. These are indeed challenging times, which is why it is important to provide them with all the help and resources to make their circumstances less stressful. In NYC, several schools have been given grants to help fund programs that help with homelessness, they “awarded more than $7 million in grants authorized by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act” (New York, 2022). Given the rate of homeless students attending public schools in NY such grants can genuinely help someone dearly with their living circumstances. It can provide money for transportation, food, healthcare, and even additional learning services so they can receive a fair education stress free.
References
Bunting, E., & Himler, R. (1993). Fly away home. Clarion Books.
Cai, J. (2021, July 27). Homeless students in public schools across America: Down but not out. nsba- National School Boards Association. https://www.nsba.org/Perspectives/2021/homeless-students
De Mare, A., Kelly, K., & Taber, K. (Producers), & De Mare, A., & Kelly, K. (Directors). (2014). The homestretch [Streaming video]. United States: Bullfrog Films.
Johnson, L. (2016, March 21). Le’andria Johnson – Better days (audio). YouTube. https://youtu.be/yJB7dqtCWzg?si=svoP1RMBz3PWGhiS
New York State Education Department awards $7.1 million in federal grants to programs supporting homeless students. New York State Education Department. (2022, August 17). https://www.nysed.gov/news/2022/new-york-state-education-department-awards-71-million-federal-grants-programs-supporting
Hi, Sthenia! I appreciate how you started off this blog post by defining what the requirements are for students to legally be considered homeless. Based of the kind of news and media I’m exposed to regularly, the general public doesn’t seem to consider that homelessness doesn’t always look like people living out on the streets, as that’s the scene that first comes to their heads when thinking about what it means to be homeless. I also appreciate how you brought up some stories from the documentary “Homestretch”. It’s interesting to see students’ stories, as they were forced out of their homes for different reasons. I see you mentioned that students that aren’t homeless mostly worry about grades, and was wondering why you thought that. I always believed that students worry more about making friends and how other people see them, so I find your stance on this topic interesting and thought-provoking. Thank you for informing me on homelessness, the experiences that homeless students have went through in the past, and inspiring me to take a look at the book “Fly Far Away” by Eve Bunting and listen to the song “Better Days” by Le’Andrea Johnson.
Hi Sthenia,
I really enjoyed your blog post! The image you used does a good job at portraying your topic. I agree with you that there are so many students out there who go to school but afterwards they worry if they will have a place to stay or if they will have food. I liked that you really described this section because most people assume that they know these students’ conditions when in reality they have no idea of how much they have to go through. Sometimes they wish they could have this perfect life but they can’t. I also liked the book ” Fly Away Home” that you mentioned. It shows how we have hope in society. Do you believe that when people read this book they gain some sort of hope? I say this in the sense that hope is something most people in these conditions do not have. So, do you think they can gain hope from this book and its story? Overall, I enjoyed reading this. The song you choose I think is very helpful for these people. Maybe you could have mentioned specific people that can give them hope, as you have stated above. Overall, amazing job!