Written by Eliza Shapiro; Photographs by Brittainy Newman (New York Times)
The New York Times published on November 19 an interactive feature article on the pervasive problem of student homelessness in New York City. The Times followed two school children experiencing homelessness for one full day “to capture how much effort, help and luck it takes for homeless children to have a shot at a decent education.” Sandivel, age 10, who shares a single bedroom with her mother and four brothers, has moved seven times in the past five years. Darnell, age 8, lives in a shelter and commutes 15 miles per day to attend school.
"The number of school-age children in New York City who live in shelters or ‘doubled up’ in apartments with family or friends has swelled by 70 percent over the past decade — a crisis without precedent in the city’s history,” writes Eliza Shapiro, the article’s author. “By day, New York’s 114,085 homeless students live in plain sight: They study on the subway and sprint through playgrounds. At night, these children sometimes sleep in squalid, unsafe rooms, often for just a few months until they move again. School is the only stable place they know.”
The Opportunity Starts at Home multi-sector affordable homes campaign is working with leading organizations in the education sector, such as the National Education Association, to help raise awareness about the connections between affordable housing and educational success, and to implement a bold package of federal policy solutions. These new housing-education partnerships illustrate the growing recognition within the education sector that investments in affordable homes would improve outcomes for teachers, students, and families.
The full New York Times article is at: https://nyti.ms/2OR9VZx
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