Schools provide hope for homeless students

Being homeless is not just living in a tent in the woods. People who live in Catawba County's many shelters also are homeless, and many of those people have children.

There also are countless children who live in houses with other families.

"Last year, we had 17 students who were homeless," said Melanie Elrod, director of student services and career and technical education for Newton-Conover City Schools. "We probably had another 95 to 105 people who live doubled up with other people."

Those students must look for a way to succeed in school while their home life is less than ideal. Often schools step in to provide the support the families need. Most students who are homeless qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch. Many elementary and middle schools offer the Backpack Program or Backpacks for Kids, which are community-supported and give students a backpack filled with food that will last through the weekend.

All schools also receive school-supply donations, which go to students who need them. Many teachers and staff go above and beyond when they see a student or family in need.

A MOTHER'S PERSPECTIVE

Teresa had a steady job at a day care. But with were fewer children enrolled at the day care, her hours were cut in September. Before long, she was having trouble making ends meet.

"I let the landlord know that I wouldn't be able to pay my rent the next month because my hours had been cut," Teresa said.

Without warning, her landlord changed the locks on the home Teresa was renting, and didn't allow Teresa back inside to get any of her belongings. Teresa, along with her three children, had nowhere to go.

"I had a TV, microwave, beds, lamps, dishes — everything — in there, and I couldn't get it," Teresa said. "I was honest and I was punished. If I hadn't said anything about next month's rent, I could have stayed until the end of the month."

Teresa had some clothes she'd put in her car in anticipation of moving. Other than that, she lost everything.

She and her children stayed with a few family members. But having additional people living in their apartments was against their leases, so Teresa had to find somewhere else to go.

Between all of this, she lost her job in October.

With no income, Teresa could no longer afford her car.

Two of her children attend school at Thornton Elementary in Newton.

"I just wrote my son's teacher a letter, saying that we don't have anywhere to live right now and we were having a rough couple of days, and to please bear with us," Teresa said.

Her child's teacher talked to Diane Boliek, the school counselor, to see if they could help the family. Boliek put Teresa in touch with social worker Pam Kidwell. Kidwell works with federal stimulus programs. One provides help with rent and utilities.

Kidwell and Boliek connected Teresa and her children with the Family Care Center. Teresa said the school has supported her through the entire experience.

"There's been times when the principal picked up my kids at the Family Care Center, because the buses weren't set up to do it yet," she said. "And the teachers realize my kids are going through a hard time, and give them a little extra love."

Teresa lived in the Family Care Center from October through Jan. 4, for as long as she was allowed to stay. However, she still hadn't found a home within her price range of $350 to $400. She lived with a friend for a few weeks, until the friend had an emergency and couldn't take the children to school. Boliek let Teresa and the children stay with her for a few days while they continued to hunt for apartments.

At the end of January, the trio, Boliek, Kidwell and Teresa, found an apartment within walking distance of Thornton Elementary. Teresa is now at Catawba Valley Community College on a Pell Grant, taking classes in health management. She also participates in the N.C. Work First program.

Teresa said she would not have gotten through her rough patch without the school, which she still depends on.

"Everything in our house was donated by the school," she said. "We have a brand-new microwave, and all the kitchen utensils, the beds, everything was donated."

Her two children participate in the Backpack Program.

Teresa said through her entire ordeal, the hardest part was being strong for her children.

"You have to put on a good front for the kids, because if you fall apart, they fall apart," she said. "But you're knowing inside that everything's falling apart, and you're wondering what you're going to do."

Kidwell said the children have done well because their mom put on such a brave face and put their needs first.

Erin Hudgins has one of Teresa's children in her class. She said he was held to the same academic standards as all the other children. However, Hudgins said she tried to help him as best she could.

"I bought him a notebook that zipped shut, so he could cram everything inside it and not worry about losing anything," she said. "And we talked about how I expected him to do his homework, but if he didn't get to it at home, after breakfast (at school), he could come to a quiet room and do it."

Teresa said her children may have been allowed to not complete their homework for a few weeks, when their home life was unstable, but that's not the case these days.

"That's not an excuse now, because we're not in the same situation," she said. "He should be doing his homework."

Teresa finally is starting to feel secure again.

STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVE

Chelsea Killian is a junior at Newton-Conover High School. Her family lived with her grandmother, until her grandmother got divorced. The family, which includes Killian's parents and two younger brothers, moved to a trailer park.

Then her parents fell behind on the rent. Killian's mom's car also was broken into.

Although both her parents had jobs, they didn't have enough money to live on their own.

Her family moved in with an aunt and uncle in Newton. With both families in the house, there were 11 people living there, Killian said. They lived there for a year. Killian's mom quit her job at CVCC, and got a job at Walmart. Last fall, Killian's mom also got a seasonal job at the Target distribution center.

"She was making more money, but she was barely home, we never saw her," Killian said. "She was so tired that she decided to leave Walmart and just do Target, since it was good money."

They were making enough money that Killian's family could afford their own three-bedroom apartment. Another uncle moved in with them.

In December, Killian's mom lost her job at Target. For a short time, Killian said the family didn't know if they could keep the apartment.

"My dad tried to work harder, and mom called around, she even called where she used to work to see if they needed her, but no one was hiring," Killian said. "I try to balance it out, I try to help my mom as much as I can, but it's so frustrating."

In January, Target called her mom and rehired her full-time. Killian said that was a relief. But money is still tight, especially around the middle of the month.

"Food stamps start over on the 13th," Killian said. "This week has been really hard, because we only had milk and water."

She also has to do well in school. Her junior year is an important one. She has three end-of-course exams she must do well on. She's also taking an online course to catch up.

She said the teachers and staff at the high school have helped a lot.

"The people here are really nice," Killian said. "If I need a notebook, someone will give one to me."

A senior at the school said he's also found the staff helpful.

His mom worked at an area hospital and was let go. He was living in a house in Newton, and he had to move because his mother didn't have the money to live there anymore.

"My mom said we had to move out by Jan. 1," he said. "It was stressful, not knowing what was going to happen."

He said he and his family packed up their belongings in a truck.

"I asked where we were going to move, and my mom said she didn't know," he said.

He told Alice Averitt, the student opportunity specialist counselor with Newton-Conover High School what was happening. He went to Averitt because he trusted her.

"I told her I was in a bad situation, where I could be homeless," he said. "She helped."

Averitt said helping students in his situation is what she does.

"I found a landlord that would work with them. I got their power turned on and got them in the home," Averitt said. "He is a senior, and I didn't want him forfeiting everything because of this."

He now lives in a mobile home with his mom, 22-year-old brother and 18-year-old girlfriend. His brother and girlfriend pay the rent.

He said he hopes to go into the military when he graduates.

SCHOOL SYSTEMS' PERSPECTIVE

Schools try to help students who are homeless as best they can.

"When parents come in and enroll their child, they must check housing," said Angela Simmons, director of accountability and homeless liaison for Hickory Public Schools. "It could be a hotel, in a shelter, living with someone else."

She said if a children are already enrolled, it's more difficult to find out if they're homeless, but that's where the faculty and staff relationships come in.

"When we find out, we work with the school counselor and help them with food, clothing, transportation, whatever they need," Simmons said.

Schools get some of the money to pay for this assistance from Title 1 funding. Schools also set aside some money for it, Simmons said. Area churches and other organizations donate school supplies.
The public perception of homelessness is not always accurate.

Dana Carter, the homeless liaison for Catawba County Schools, said one student who was considered homeless lived in a camper outside another student's house. Another lived in the Cross County Campground on N.C. 150.

Elrod, with Newton-Conover City Schools, knew of one family that lived on the landing of another family's stairs.

"Most live in shelters, like the Family Care Center," Carter said. "Several are domestic violence related and live in the First Step shelter."

Some parents have lost jobs, can't pay bills and have been evicted.

Catawba County Schools have no homeless families with more than three children. Carter said most are single-parent families.

Hickory Public Schools has some homeless families with one child, others with five. Simmons said many of their homeless students are in shelters due to domestic violence or lost homes due to foreclosure. Some families have single parents, while others have both mom and dad.

Newton-Conover City Schools, too, have several students homeless due to domestic violence, but also because of homes that have burned, or parents who have lost jobs and can't pay rent.

"We also have people who come here, thinking they can get a job, and then they can't get a job and don't have money to go back where they came from," Elrod said.

Most of Newton-Conover's homeless students have single-parent families.

If a family moves out of the school district, the schools will work to keep children at the original school, as well as have transportation to that school, under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

"They need stability as much as possible," Simmons said. "We'd hate for them to have to go to school in Newton for a week or two, only for them to have to move back to another school in the Hickory district a few weeks later."

A school system tries to consolidate the number of special trips it has to make.

"When arranging transportation, it may be a smaller bus, making a larger loop, picking up kids for a variety of reasons," Carter said.

Averitt, at Newton-Conover High, said it is important for the community to know these students do succeed.

"I had one student who graduated early," Averitt said. "She called me this week, because she was so excited that she was starting her first class at CVCC."