From Full Hearts to Full Trucks
From Full Hearts to Full Trucks
The North Carolina Homeless Education Program (NCHEP) Team Works to Bring School Supplies and Resources to Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Across North Carolina
After months of preparation and planning, the staff and leadership team for the North Carolina Homeless Education Program (NCHEP) held a massive distribution effort on December 12, 2024, to get much-needed school supplies and resources to local homeless liaisons across the state. Dozens of trucks and vans from 70 North Carolina counties arrived throughout the morning for a special purpose—to fill their vehicles with the supplies—all for children and youth experiencing homelessness. NCHEP team members were joined by volunteers who helped load 78 pallets of supplies and resources into the waiting vehicles. The distribution was held at a warehouse on the UNC Greensboro campus.
“These supplies, materials, and resources are being provided to district homeless liaisons who are responsible for getting them in the hands of students who are experiencing homelessness in our state. Items will also be provided to partners in the community such as to local shelters as well as to the Single Points of Contacts that are on College and University campuses to serve students who are in transition,” said Lisa Phillips, state coordinator, NCHEP.
A Collaborative Effort Across North Carolina
The team worked to supply the items to all 115 school districts in North Carolina, along with any charter school that has identified students as experiencing homelessness. In addition to the distribution, boxes were sent to those charter schools. While the main distribution day was on December 12th, with 70 counties participating, materials and resources were sent out to school districts that could not attend before and after the designated day—ultimately reaching all North Carolina counties.
“The opportunity to provide additional resources of this magnitude to some of the most vulnerable students in our state brings a sense of fulfillment to the behind-the-scenes hard work and dedication of the NCHEP team,” said Neely Ward, program coordinator, NCHEP.
“Our goal is to provide the items to support the academic success of all our students who are experiencing homelessness. We have a large number of children who are living in cars, campgrounds, in tents, shelters or who are doubled-up. These resources are to support the children in those settings to continue their learning beyond the classroom. And we are not just providing items to children of school age. We are including early educational materials for children who may not be connected to an early PreK program with resources so that they too can be learning the skills that will prepare them for when they enter school. The main items being provided to our youngest learners includes ApSeed devices [which require no connectivity to the internet to function]. In addition, we have provided trauma-informed care materials for parents to work with their children through the challenges they may be facing, and we even included learning materials for the staff in our schools so that they can work with and support the evolving needs that our students are facing today.” Ms. Phillips said.
“The success of our supply distribution goes beyond providing school supplies and resources to students experiencing homelessness. In every backpack, blanket, and book, there is a reminder of hope—the kind of hope that empowers students to dream, grow, and succeed despite the challenges they may encounter,” said Tamika Dawkins, program specialist for special populations, NCHEP.
The materials were provided to school district homeless education programs, Single Points of Contact (SPOCs), early education partners, shelters, and tent cities in western North Carolina (WNC), and across the state. Items included backpacks, bags, and kits for students from Pre-K through high school, school supplies, flashlights, batteries, sleeping mats, blankets, and water filtration bottles. In addition, liaisons, counselors, and social workers received materials and resources to help in providing trauma-informed care for students experiencing homelessness.
Distribution in Western North Carolina in October
Especially hard-hit were the WNC communities with over 2,300 students identified currently as experiencing homelessness from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The staff at NCHEP and the NCFCEP (NC Foster Care Education Program) delivered supplies and resources in October—shortly after the hurricane—to the homeless education programs in districts that were impacted by the storm. Emergency blankets, flashlights, and new backpacks filled with school supplies, as well as sleeping pads were included in this distribution. Trackers were provided inside of the backpacks to enable students living in tents, shelters, or family vehicles to keep up with and locate their backpacks easier in the settings they may be staying in when they are able to return to school.
According to Ms. Phillips, families that are experiencing homelessness are often in environments that have limited materials and resources for students to complete homework, study and learn. The focus of the NCHEP is to provide tools and supplies that offer flexibility in the environment and promote learning, and to also provide items that deliver learning opportunities beyond the classroom and are sustainable in helping students during their time of homelessness.
“Our office strives to always be ready for when a disaster strikes. We do this by providing training on disasters and equipping our liaisons with tools in advance so they know what they will need to do. Communication is the key, but when a disaster happens, they are all different and our responses have to be too. Each one changes our perspective of the work that we do and how we do it. We find that we are always faced with even greater needs that will continuously evolve in the aftermath, thus, the need to help our children and the schools goes well beyond when the disaster strikes. It goes beyond the first few days, weeks, or even months.
“We know that when you have massive amounts of people that become displaced all at once, it takes time to process, to learn what is needed, to identify those impacted, and figure out a plan to begin the recovery process. In WNC, it will take years to recover, including for our children with the learning loss they have experienced. Our counts of students who have been displaced by the storm, continue to rise even months after the later. And, while we know that we have over 2,300 students who have been identified as homeless just from Hurricane Helene, we expect the number to increase. Last year, in North Carolina alone, our schools identified over 37,000 students experiencing homelessness,” Ms. Phillips said.
Background
NCHEP operates the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s technical assistance center for the education of homeless children and youth. The program is dedicated to ensuring that all children and youth experiencing homelessness have access to the public education they are entitled to under the federal McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act.
Local homeless liaisons play a critical role in the implementation of the McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act. These homeless liaisons use tools and resources to implement the law in their efforts to assist children and youth in their academic success.
The school supplies and resources were paid for through the American Rescue Plan – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) state education agency funds and made available to those children and youth experiencing homelessness through the efforts of the NCHEP staff.
Visit the NCHEP photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/agcucF3mxVSxJuCJ7.
Post and Photos by: Judi Rossabi, communications specialist
