Nearly 500 local school kids are homeless, and officials, nonprofits, and concerned members of the community want to ensure students and their families know what’s available to assist them in the short- and long-term.
During the February Superintendent’s Workshop, School Board Chair Teri Barenborg raised the issue upon learning that roughly 3 percent of the district’s students are homeless.
After seeing a mother and young child asking for help on the streets of Vero Beach, Barenborg proposed a more coordinated approach to assist homeless students through the school district and other agencies.
“If you have a child, we want you in a home. One (homeless) child is way too high,” Barenborg said.
Ten percent of the homeless students live in shelters, 10 percent in motels, 78 percent double up with other families, and 2 percent have no shelter.
Of the 491 currently homeless students, 67 attend Vero Beach High School and 34 attend Sebastian River High School. At the middle school level, 46 attend Oslo Middle School and 43 attend Gifford Middle School. At the elementary level, 42 attend Dodgertown Elementary, 37 attend Citrus Elementary and 33 homeless students attend Vero Beach Elementary.
The remaining district schools have fewer than 20 homeless students. The exact number for each school with fewer than 10 homeless students is not available in order to reduce the likelihood of a breach of confidentiality. Homeless kids don’t want to be singled out, but need to fit in with their peers.
Superintendent of Schools David K. Moore said a presentation on school homelessness could be prepared for the April meeting. Board members agreed that coordinating efforts and sharing information with other government agencies would be worthwhile, but more details about the services available to homeless students should be compiled in advance.
Free school lunches are available to homeless students. Still, other needs specific to these students that could be explored include how to get needed school supplies, access to computers and printers for homework, sports equipment and uniforms, band uniforms and instruments, transportation to and from school, and more.
Hope for Families is one of several Vero Beach organizations that assist families needing a place to stay. “We work directly with the schools here,” said Marty Mercado, executive director of the shelter where most of the students living there attend Citrus Elementary, Oslo Middle School and Vero Beach High School.
The shelter holds about 90 people and is completely occupied, with a waitlist of 120 families. Mercado said the new trend is larger families with six to eight kids; most are single-mom families. Three healthy meals a day are cooked at the shelter.
Bus transportation to and from the schools is provided for the students. Some, especially in middle school, do experience bullying if others find out they are homeless. “We work really hard with tutoring and socialization so they get through,” Mercado said. “I think the kids actually do better than their parents.”
One big stressor on families with school-age children is being without a stable, permanent home.
“Our families are working. They just can’t make ends meet,” Mercado said, adding that they are required to work unless they have a medical issue or just had a baby.The housing crisis, partly due to a lack of affordable rental options, has spiraled in recent years. According to Mercado, families used to stay at the shelter an average of 90 days three to four years ago, but now they are averaging six months to a year. Hope for Families is currently in the middle of a fund-raising campaign to double the size of the shelter and build apartments.
“If we can keep the family unit together, they are more likely to become self-sufficient,” Mercado said. “We make sure all kids are in daycare or school. Our kids never sit idle.”
At Hope for Families, computers are available in the reading room and can be checked out and brought to rooms. The community helps with band equipment, extracurricular needs, and clothing, including coats and shoes provided by Dyer Subaru. “We try to keep them as busy as possible,” said Mercado.
A typical school day afternoon includes going to the reading room after school and then back again after dinner to do homework. Students also need medical and mental health care, according to Mercado, who says that “couch surfing” from home to home, or living in a car has left many terrified. Some come in mute or barely speaking, and thanks to the help of the therapy and care at the shelter, they feel comfortable and willing to converse. “It’s really great to see that change,” Mercado said.
“I call the children the hidden piece of homelessness,” she said. “We love our kids. They are just a highlight of the shelter.”
Rayme Nuckles, who heads up Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council, says many organizations in the community are trying to help, but all of the shelters are full.
“There’s no additional space,” he said, adding that subsidized apartments are available, but it would take two or three jobs to pay for them, and only those who qualify under the definition of homelessness that involves living in a car, on the street or an abandoned building are eligible.
The Source in south Vero behind the old Steil gas station helps families who need a short-term place to sleep. The Source’s “Dignity Bus” is the first mobile shelter in the country, according to executive director Tony Zorbaugh. Providing over 10,000 with an emergency place to sleep each year, the sleeper buses, which are equipped with climate-controlled sleeping pods, were 100 percent built by people who were formerly homeless.
“It’s first come, first serve,” said Zorbaugh, noting that a family of five is currently staying on the bus.
A resource center and Christian outreach mission, The Source provides training for parents or students old enough to work with six-, 12- and 18-week culinary training programs called Dining with Dignity. The program provides food for the “Dignity Food Truck” and “Dignity Catering” and includes State of Florida safe food handling certification. “It employs more people in the community and helps create jobs,” said Zorbaugh. “In order to get people out of poverty, the only thing that changes is money.”
Dignity Village with 19 cottages under renovation is also in the works to serve families facing longer-term homelessness.
Matching students with helpful resources and agencies is a big part of the challenge. While researching the homeless student issue, Barenborg learned that the Indian River County School District has a web page devoted to directing homeless families to ways to get food, shelter, mental health counseling and other services. For the list of resources, go to indianriverschools.org, click on “district,” then “departments,” then “Homeless Ed Program,” where there are numerous files, including the “Homeless Education Program Resource List.”