 |
|
Reading, writing, and a roof overhead
A Missouri school district steps up to provide housing for four homeless high school boys.
By Stacy A. Teicher | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the February 1, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
MAPLEWOOD, MO. - Officially, it's known as Joe's Place. But one of its first residents has dubbed the cheerful yellow house "Big Bird." It opened recently with enough space for four homeless boys who attend high school in the Maplewood Richmond Heights (MRH) district, near St. Louis.
The result of a collaboration between school officials, local churches, and scores of volunteers, Joe's Place appears to be a first-of-its-kind endeavor in the United States.
"The thing that makes this unique is that the school district actually put up the money for the housing," says Barbara Duffield, policy director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.
The small district should be applauded for taking such direct action to meet a need, Ms. Duffield says, but it's also important for people to keep in mind that "the overall problem [nationwide] is there is not adequate attention to the needs of families and youth on the housing and shelter front."
About 14 percent of shelter requests go unmet, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty in Washington. That group also reports that 48 percent of homeless families have children under 18; an additional 1 percent of the homeless population consists of unaccompanied youths. Nearly half of students who are homeless are not able to attend school for the full year.
MRH superintendent Linda Henke wasn't content to wait for the government to create more shelters. A few colleagues suggested she had enough to think about with the requirements of No Child Left Behind without taking on this project, but "if a child is homeless, he's behind," she says.
Out of 1,100 students here, about 30 each year are in situations that count as "homeless" under federal law that spells out their educational rights. Ms. Henke's concern had been growing as she saw the challenges for teen boys in particular. Many places where women seek refuge from abuse don't allow boys over a certain age, while men's shelters aren't nearby and can be intimidating, she says. She knows a boy who lived in a car and another who rents a couch.
Joe's Place doesn't have enough room for all the teens who could benefit from it, but it's a start. While experts say many teens hide their homelessness, Henke believes the community conversation about Joe's Place is encouraging more students to come forward and seek help.
The idea emerged during a conversation between Henke and Andrew Vander Maas, pastor of Crossroads Presbyterian Fellowship in Maplewood. Then an anonymous businessman offered $10,000 in seed money. "He put his money where my mouth was," Henke says with a sprightly laugh.
In meetings with zoning officials and neighbors, Henke and Pastor Vander Maas offered assurances that students with criminal records would not live in the home. Joe's Place residents will stay with their own family on weekends whenever possible. And in addition to houseparents who live with the teens, counselors will keep tabs on their progress.
The school board put up the money to buy the house last summer and plans to spend about $34,000 a year on the mortgage, insurance, and utilities. To keep four students in school each year, it seemed a reasonable cost, Henke says; it costs at least that much to house just one person in prison – a place where young men are much more likely to end up if they drop out of school.
A nonprofit organization was recently formed to manage Joe's Place and raise money for other operating expenses. It also provides a degree of separation from the school district, lest anyone be concerned about a church- state overlap.
RSS feed
