Six years ago, I wrote a story about homeless children in the June issue of ASBJ. I visited a city I love, New Orleans, to interview children and their parents, as well as school administrators, on the challenges of educating children without permanent addresses.
In those pre-Katrina days, the intractable poverty of children was crushing the New Orleans school system. Homelessness was just one symptom of that poverty. I was hoping to find examples of student who were stigmatized by living in shelters.
Instead, the children I spoke with were happy to be in the shelter, where they received regular meals, tutoring sessions, and counseling. Their parents were getting treatment for their drug and alcohol abuse problems and their mental health issues.
Many of the children didn’t want to leave the shelter when their time was up, wondering if they were again facing hunger and uncertainty.
In 2003, when I wrote that piece, the number of homeless families was on the rise, with the high cost of housing being one of the factors. This year, those numbers are growing again, as more middle-class families are being hurt by the mortgage crisis and rising unemployment.
This month, my colleagues Naomi Dillon and Lawrence Hardy take a look at how schools are working to keep homelss children on track academically and emotionally. Their articles are online and free to nonsubscribers for a limited time.
Kathleen Vail, Managing Editor
