"Surge in Homeless Pupils Strains Schools" NYTimes 9/6/09

9-year-old Charity Crowel of Asheville, NC lives in a trailer rented for the summer by her parents. She said of her last semester, “I couldn’t go to sleep, I was worried about all the stuff,” and she often nodded off in class.

This New York Tmes story about the dramatic increase of homeless children in Asheville, NC has national implications and relates to the Cambridge, MA area as well.

A few quotes:

"While current national data are not available, the number of schoolchildren in homeless families appears to have risen by 75 percent to 100 percent in many districts over the last two years, according to Barbara Duffield, policy director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, an advocacy group.

There were 679,000 homeless students reported in 2006-7, a total that surpassed one million by last spring, Ms. Duffield said."

“It’s hard enough going to school and growing up, but these kids also have to worry where they’ll be staying that night and whether they’ll eat,” said Bill Murdock, chief executive of Eblen-Kimmel Charities, a private group in Asheville that helps needy families with anything from food baskets and money for utility bills to toiletries and a prom dress.

“We see 8-year-olds telling Mom not to worry, don’t cry,” Mr. Murdock said."

Read the full NY Times story by ERIK ECKHOLM:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/education/06homeless.html?_r=1&em