Al's Outreach Outtakes

Last week I wrote about some Beaverton High School siblings who are living in a garage and how we are searching for ways to help them find better, more stable housing.  Lots of community resources are still searching for a solution that will work for everyone so please keep praying for them. Shortly after I wrote that article a friend sent me a link to an organization called School House Connection and some work they had recently published.
 
According to School House Connection, as of the 2016-17 school year at a national level 1,355,821 students were categorized as homeless. That is an overall increase of 70% over the last ten years. The number of unaccompanied youth, defined as those who experience homelessness on their own and are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian, has increased 25% over just the last three years. As I stated in last week’s article, the Beaverton School District has 1,938 students reported as homeless with 299 of them in an unaccompanied situation. These numbers will only go higher as the school year progresses. Outside of a basic humanitarian purpose why does this matter? Why should we care?
 
From the same report, here is why we should care:
The average graduation rate for homeless students was only 64% in 2016-2017 school year. That is a full 13% below low income (but housed) students and 20% below all students. They further state that “Students experiencing homelessness are 87 percent more likely to drop out of school than their housed peers. Without a high school diploma, youth are 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness later in life. This data is critically important because more than 95 percent of jobs created during the economic recovery have gone to workers with at least some college education, while those with a high school diploma or less are being left behind. Research continues to support the imperative of actively addressing the educational needs of homeless students to help break the cycle of poverty.”
 
In other words, failure to address this problem now will have a significant impact on not only individuals but our country in general. Providing multiple schools with back packs and helping Beaverton High School however we can not only helps today, but tomorrow as well.
 
For access to the complete article go to this URL: https://www.schoolhouseconnection.org/number-of-students-experiencing-homelessness-reaches-all-time-high-growth-in-numbers-of-unaccompanied-youth-most-marked/