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Beverly Woods Elementary School Students Learn How It Feels to Be Homeless
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CHARLOTTE, N.C., January 30, 2007 –
Today, 798 Beverly Woods Elementary School students and their teachers learned what it’s like to be homeless. This effort kicked off a partnership between A Child’s Place and Beverly Woods by helping students better understand the difficulties faced by homeless students. More than 1,800 homeless children are currently attending Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, including five enrolled at Beverly Woods. For the remainder of the school year, school staff and students will be raising awareness and collecting needed supplies for ACP’s client children and families.
The next event will be on Friday, February 9th when Beverly Woods students and parents will collect soap, shampoo, hairbrushes and other hygiene items to be given to homeless families.
Media coverage of today’s event was produced by WBTV, NewsChannel 14, WCCB and Charlotte Weekly newspaper. NewsChannel 14 began airing the story at 1pm this afternoon and will continue it at least once an hour through this evening. WBTV aired footage of the event in their 12:00pm Noon News today and have that video posted on their website at WBTV.com. WCCB coverage will air tonight during their 10:00 News. Charlotte Weekly newspaper is available through home delivery and on newsstands on Fridays.
Today, volunteers and staff from A Child’s Place read stories to each class about animal characters who lose their homes and what happens to them as a result: where they stay, how they feel, and how they make new homes for themselves. “Even though our school is located in a relatively affluent area of the city, every year we teach homeless children here,” said Beverly Woods principal Caroline Horne. “It is important to us that all of our students and staff are sensitive to the obstacles homeless children must overcome, both in school and in life.”
“Our wish would be that no child ever has to experience homelessness,” added Annabelle Suddreth, executive director of A Child’s Place. “The reality, though, is that there are children without permanent housing attending virtually every CMS school. Raising awareness about this issue means more children who need help will receive it.”
A grassroots nonprofit agency founded locally in 1989, A Child’s Place works to erase the impact of homelessness on children and their education. School is sometimes the only normal part of a homeless child’s life. Wearing clothing and shoes that fit, getting needed medical care, receiving the attention of a caring tutor, and carrying the same school supplies as the other kids allows ACP client homeless children to focus on learning, not on feeling frightened, alienated and left behind in school. Homeless parents work with ACP staff to identify and resolve the issues behind their housing crisis, so it doesn’t happen again. During the 2005-06 school year, A Child’s Place helped 421 homeless and at-risk children attending 65 different Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.
A Child’s Place is funded entirely through donations. The agency does not charge fees from its clients and does not receive federal, state or local tax dollars. For more information about A Child’s Place, call (704) 343-3790 or visit www.achildsplace.org.
For more information, please contact: Laurie Schwartz at (704) 943-9563.
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