What public schools are doing to help housing unstable families

Name: Ally

Social Justice Group: 2018-2019, Homelessness & Education

Date of Fieldwork: January 15, 2019

Name of Organization: PS 446

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Amir Brann & Mrs Dunn

Type of Fieldwork: Interview

What I did:

Our group traveled to Brooklyn to PS 446 21 percent of their students are housing unstable. We interviewed Amir Brann and the school’s principle Mrs Dunn. There have been articles about the school and some people were kind enough to donate items so the school can help support families and make them feel safe.

What I learned:

Some public schools are being funded and starting staff education about child trauma. There is also another job that Amir has at the moment where they try to help the kids out. Public schools are taking action to try to bond with families and make them feel safe.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

I learned that there is a lot that can be done to help kids and families that are currently housing unstable or living in a shelter. Such as having a food pantry or drying in the school. This can create trust with these families. Which can create an environment where they feel safe. The school is taking a lot of steps to help these families and even have gotten donations from people. They have offered that we can come in and help them organize this stuff. I think that schools are being very sensitive toward how they handle this issue and they are doing a very good job.

Ally

Ally is an eight grader at LREI. Since she lives in New York City, she had walked past many homeless children. She believes that those children should be allowed to have an education that is just as well as any private school child. Ally enjoys working and interviewing people about this topic. 

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