STUDENTS AT H.D. WOODSON CREATE CARE PACKAGES & PERSONALIZED MESSAGES FOR CLASSMATES EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

by Lauren Grimes, Founder and CEO, The Community Enrichment Project; and Madison Lewis, Co-Author and HD Woodson High School Student

Student Volunteers from the Community Enrichment Project create care packages for youth experiencing homelessness.

Every week youth at H.D. Woodson High School in Ward 7 of Washington, D.C. learn about civic engagement and practice civic action through youth service projects with the help of volunteer organizations like ours, the Community Enrichment Project. The first few months of the school year students selected hefty topics, such as domestic violence, an issue that unfortunately, many had personal connections to. As November approached, we learned that it was Youth Homelessness Awareness Month. So, we decided to focus on homelessness. But how?

During our discussions it became increasingly clear that in their minds, homeless people are usually single adults, with inadequate shelter, food, finances, and support. The students did not feel a strong, direct connection to the topic of homelessness. What they did not know was that D.C. has a large number of homeless teens and children. Although it is quite difficult to have concrete statistics on our homeless population, the 2017 D.C. Homeless Youth Census shows that there are over 1,000 homeless youth in our city.

“It’s a shame we have homeless kids here in Washington, D.C. where we have the White House, Congress, and all this wealth,” exclaimed student volunteer Madison Lewis

What was even more of a shock to our youth was that within their own school there are homeless students. They take classes with them, eat lunch together, hang out in the hallways, and may be close friends with them. So, even though they interact with homeless youth every day, those youth are virtually invisible to them.

We took some time to delve deeper into this issue by talking with the school social worker, Ms. Vivian Strong. She revealed there were a number of male and female students who lacked housing, among other major needs. She shared that “students are always appreciative of kind gestures when others go out of their way to support them.” Our youth volunteers sprung into action.

We gathered toiletries and made care packages for each homeless student–with a twist. Inside of each package was a personalized letter with an encouraging message. The youth wanted them to know: “We want you to know that we care about you. Things will get better! Have faith and stay positive!”