Organization helps homeless children prepare for school

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 00:00

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Dozens of volunteers for A Child's Place took a few hours Tuesday to help homeless children get ready to head back to school.

Organizers say this school year alone, there are more than 3,200 homeless students enrolled in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. That number's risen about 20 percent each year, for the past five years.

"Almost virtually every school in the district has homeless children and then we have schools that combine a large number of homeless children with a high poverty rate," said executive director Annabelle Suddreth.

The numbers are stacked against homeless children from the get-go. Suddreth adds that nationwide, it's estimated only 25 percent of them will graduate.

Becky Bereiter