Helping homeless students and their families

Close your eyes and imagine being told you have two weeks to pack your worldly belongings and leave your home. Imagine the panic, the abject fear of not knowing where you and your family will go and how you will survive with no roof over your head. Thankfully, most of us will never have to experience that frightening scenario. But it’s also important to remember that some people within our community are living that very nightmare right now.

One Bethel family was recently forced to stare down their worst fears when they were evicted from their home just weeks before Thanksgiving. The matriarch of the family, a mother named Sua, said she and her son, as well as her brother, sister-in-law, and three nieces and nephews, were told they could no longer stay in the home they had been renting for several months.

The family wasn’t able to put together enough cash for first and last month’s rent – plus a hefty deposit – to get into a new home. They were stuck, and time was not on their side. Unsure where to turn for help, Sua reached out to Bethel High School, where her son is a student.

Fortunately, our district has a team of dedicated specialists working to ensure that every Bethel child in need is accounted for. That team is able to do their jobs thanks in part to the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, which created a federally mandated program to ensure educational rights and protections for all students experiencing homelessness.

Our McKinney-Vento liaisons worked with Sua and were able to help her and her family get into a new, stable home in time for the holidays.

“I feel so blessed to have them on my side. I feel so blessed that they’re there to help me and my family,” Sua said. “If I didn’t have that help, I really don’t know where I would have gone. I’ve seen a lot of people on the streets, a lot of kids on the streets.”

Dani Stanford, who is one of our two McKinney-Vento liaisons, says a large portion of her job is to ensure all students have access to an equitable education.

“The main goal is to remove any barriers to a student’s access to education,” Stanford said. “Some of the ways we remove those barriers is by providing transportation for students who have moved outside of their school boundaries or helping with enrollment. Basically, it’s just to provide them with the same educational experience that a student who is housed would have. We want to provide them with some stability, because oftentimes they’re lacking stability in their lives.”

When most people think of homelessness, they most likely think of big cities, such as Seattle or Tacoma, but that is not always the case. As of this January, more than 600 Bethel students are experiencing homelessness.

In order to bring those families back into a more secure living environment, our McKinney-Vento liaisons work with various community partners to make sure every possible resource is made available to families in need.

“We’re really having conversations with families about what is the next step,” said McKinney-Vento liaison Echo Abernathy. “Sometimes that’s a big step, and sometimes it’s a little goal, but we want to be with them every step of the way, to the best of our abilities.”

Both Abernathy and Stanford are proud to be able to help children and families rise out of homelessness, but they both admit the job can be emotionally draining. Stanford said she avoids getting emotionally overwhelmed by focusing on the many success stories she has helped create with families.

“I love to celebrate all the little victories with our families. That’s really what keeps me going. We’ve already had a handful of families get into permanent housing this year. Keeping those stories at the forefront helps remind us why we’re doing what we’re doing, even if it can be really emotionally taxing.”