Extra help for homeless students
Tutoring group, Peabody shelters join to boost success in school
They face one of the toughest obstacles to success in school -- the lack of a permanent place to live.
But in Peabody, homeless children now can count on a helping hand when it comes to mastering their schoolwork.
A four-year-old nonprofit organization dedicated to providing homeless children in Massachusetts with academic assistance and support is introducing its program to Peabody.
Easton-based Schools on Wheels of Massachusetts recruits local volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring for homeless children residing in shelters, supplementing the education they receive in local public schools. It also provides the participating students with backpacks and school supplies, and organizes regular family "read-alongs" during the summer for the children and their parents.
"Education is the key to success," said Dina Dressler of Peabody, who, as the newly appointed regional coordinator of Schools on Wheels of Massachusetts, is spearheading its implementation in Peabody. "I think education will help children who are homeless now out of poverty eventually."
Schools on Wheels will serve children from two Peabody shelters operated by Citizens for Adequate Housing: the Inn Transition Shelter on Washington Street, which serves families that are homeless because of drug or alcohol addiction; and the Inn Between Shelter, an emergency facility on Holten Street for homeless families.
The two Peabody sites are the first that Schools on Wheels of Massachusetts will be serving outside the region south of Boston, where it began in 2004. It has been working with two family shelters in Brockton, and one apiece in Middleborough and Stoughton.
The grass-roots, all-volunteer organization is informally affiliated with the original Schools on Wheels group, which began in Southern California in 1993, and a Schools on Wheels organization launched in Indianapolis in 2001, according to Cheryl Opper, an Easton resident who founded the Massachusetts group and serves as its director.
"We all share the same mission, which is to help shrink the gaps in education for children who are experiencing homelessness," Opper said of the three groups.
The intent is to provide additional support to children "who are missing layers of learning because of the multiple moves" inherent in being homeless, she said. That means "filling in the gaps and helping them get caught up with lessons that they missed from not being in the classroom."
Particularly for older students, Schools on Wheels tutors also serve as role models for the children both in education and in life skills, Opper said. "What we are finding is that these kids don't only have to build learning skills," but also "self-confidence and self-esteem."
Dressler is working with Beverly resident Joanna Channell, a board member and regional supervisor of Schools on Wheels of Massachusetts, to bring the program to the two Peabody shelters.
They have recruited about 30 local volunteers to provide the tutoring, which is set to begin next month, a few weeks after classes begin. Next week, they will hold a training session for the volunteers, who must be 18 or older, hold a high school degree, and undergo a criminal background check.
While the tutoring is not yet underway, several family read-along sessions have been held.
Dressler and Channell also are overseeing the collection of donated backpacks and other materials to give to participating students, and plans for a fund-raising drive.
The two Peabody shelters together serve 17 families, a number set to rise shortly to 18.
Teria Fletcher, formerly of Boston, is residing at the Inn Between Shelter with her 5-year-old son, Luis. She said she welcomes the chance to have her son work with a tutor, calling it "a good program for the kids."
"He's pretty smart," Fletcher said of Luis, who will be entering kindergarten next month at the Welch Elementary School. "But I think it will give him a little help."
Tom Anderson, who with his son, Joseph, 13, arrived at the Inn Between Shelter a week ago from Somerville, also plans to make use of the program. "It sounds like a head start, a good jump on the education," he said.
Diane Mulcahy, interim principal at the Welch School, said apart from an introductory letter, she had not been briefed by Schools on Wheels about its program, but she expressed support for its aims.
"I think it's providing additional assistance to families that need it, and I think it's terrific to have that kind of outreach."
Virginia Sidmore, director of family services for Citizens for Adequate Housing, said she believes the Schools on Wheels services will be "extremely helpful" to shelter families.
"Our children have bounced around from apartment to apartment, living with other people, so their schooling may not be as good as it could be," she said. "Plus the trauma of being homeless makes it very difficult for anybody to be able to concentrate on their schoolwork. So this will give them the extra boost to have someone specially come in to work with them on whatever subject they need help in.
"Sometimes all you need is one person to show that they care and it can really help someone succeed." 