Are Schools on Wheels an Answer to Child Homelessness?

On a past road trip, I connected with Indianapolis School on Wheels. The program provides educational help to homeless students in 10 shelters and 2 schools, along with uniforms and a backpack filled with school supplies.

This post is long overdue. I initially connected with Indianapolis School on Wheels a few years back on my first national road trip. I love the School on Wheels program and I was impressed by IndySOW's use of social media (@IndySOW on twitter). They invited me to stop by but because my schedule was already filled with hard dates I could not make it happen. Well, when planning this last year, I made certain a visit to Indianapolis School on Wheels was a sure thing.

The day I was visiting IndySOW was at Dayspring Center, an emergency shelter for homeless families. In this interview, Cheryl Herzog, development coordinator for Dayspring Center, talks about how homelessness has changed. In the past, when families became homeless, all they needed was a little support to get back on their feet. Today things are much different. Families are becoming homeless without any support system to get them out of homelessness.

I cannot stress enough how important programs like School on Wheels are to our growing population of homeless families with young children. If you are in or near Indianapolis , please support IndySOW. For other parts of the country please support your local School on Wheels. They are always in need of quality volunteers to help tutor young kids in homeless shelters. I received an email last week from School on Wheels here in Southern California and they are in desperate need of quality volunteers. For more info visit their website here.

 

 

 

Follow Mark Horvath on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hardlynormal

Comments

[MsLadyBlueWorld]

08:16 PM on 03/06/2012

any education for kids is better than no education at all. i think it's a good idea. i know people who live in motel rooms and their kids haven't been to school in three years and they're almost grown education is better than no education any day i say.

[ttsgw]

01:59 AM on 03/06/2012

If you want the children to remain homeless, yes.

[SEVENCLOVERS]

12:11 PM on 03/05/2012

Thank you Mark and the school for being there to help the people who needs help the most. As a former homeless person myself,I know that this type of help will put a dent in the horrible effects of homelessness. Although I recently found housing I find myself only tossing and turning with worry of knowing that there are more homeless people out there. GOD BLESS YOU MARK,GOD BLESS THE SCHOOL AND ALL THE HOMELESS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.

[Luke Armstrong]

11:34 AM on 03/05/2012

School on wheels!?! Wow.... What has become of our country that this is a necessity? Glad our national defense budget is building homes for homeless abroad instead of providing homes here.