Homeless population increasing

Clay County has a secret many residents don’t know. The population of homeless people is increasing — even among kids. Many residents are not aware of this because they do not see the homeless sleeping on benches or under bridges, but there are more than one would think.

Almost 10 percent of the seniors in the 2019 Hayesville High School graduating class were classified as homeless. There were nine total homeless students during the last school year.

While individual details are not being shared to protect the students, Clay Schools Homeless Liaison Angel Owens, and Clay County Community for Students Executive Director Theresa Waldroup, shared some general information. Both play multiple roles working personally with the students to try to assure they have many of the same things other students have.

“I shared some of the details about the seniors with our Hayesville Hands of Hope committee last year,” Waldroup said. “Some of them shared information with their own organizations. Four host families stepped up to help and offer safe places for students to stay, with food and shelter.”

Because of the community and faith partners, four of the six homeless seniors graduated last year. Waldroup said funds were given so the seniors were able to buy yearbooks, clothes, graduation gowns and even participate in the senior picnic. “Everything they needed was provided by the community,” Waldroup added.

This year, the schools have four students classified as homeless. All but one, are newly placed as homeless, Owens said. She said children may classify themselves as homeless when they fill out the packet at the beginning of the school year. Teachers may also refer a student, or parent and principals often bring information as well. Owens, who has several other administrative roles at the schools, knows how to match students to what their needs are. She and Waldroup have personally worked with students. They have done everything from driving a student to an appointment to helping get dental or medical care, obtaining an ID, or helping a student gather personal belongings after being displaced.

Waldroup told how Owens did one teen’s laundry a few times, then taught him how to do it so he would know how.

Matt’s Ministry provides weekend food bags for any student who wants it so food is covered when the students are out of school. The school has allowed students without an address to receive mail at the school, too.

Some students are transient, but they are offered help regardless. “We were doing the whole child model long before it was called the whole child model,” Waldroup said. “We may get them what they need and they may be gone next week, but we try to add stability for the students.”

Sometimes being homeless means sleeping on a different friend’s floor or couch every night because there is nowhere else to go. While not common, parents sometimes put their students out of their homes and students sometimes leave their own homes because of volatile situations.

The definition for homeless is defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 11431, a federal law designed to ensure homeless children and youth have the same access to public education as other children. According to the act, homeless children and youths:

“(A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning and (B) includes--children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals; children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and (iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).”

“I have learned a lot because of the differences of the law and how it relates to families here,” Waldroup explained. “When students turn 18, they’re adults and our consent forms connect them to community resources to keep them in school, learning marketable skills and more.”

Waldroup and Owens shared successes for some of the homeless students, one who is in college and another who has learned a well-paying trade.

“It take the whole community to help these kids. We want them to understand there is hope,” Owens added. “We try to make sure they have what they need. When they have more stable environments, they do better in school.”

Ultimately, that can mean a better, brighter future — perhaps one where homelessness does not exist.

Waldroup’s organization accepts help for students in different ways from tutoring to providing warm coats and school supplies. To see how you can help, contact Theresa Waldroup at 389-1625 or email: twaldroup@clayschools.org.

Information about North Carolina’s homeless education policies and programs is at:

https://hepnc.uncg.edu/law-guidance/.