“I was contacted by a site coordinator about a family being homeless in August. I then reached out to the family and met them at a campground, where they had been living in a tent for the last two weeks. The family consists of 2 middle school children, mom, and dad. After speaking with the family, I then encouraged the mother to place a call to DCS herself because the campsite was only paid until that night. I did not want another person to report them as it would look better if she took it upon herself to make DCS aware of her situation rather than it be called in by someone else.
I arranged for the family to stay at a hotel for 4 nights, paid for by CIS. The next morning, I met the family at a restaurant for a hot breakfast since they had been eating a lot of cold food for the last week. I gave the family some gift cards that we had left over from a donor over the summer, to make sure the children had more hot food. I also contacted their Centerstone Case Manager and she met with us as well. Over breakfast we went over our plan and hit the ground running to secure housing for this family.
For the next 3 days we visited and called many places and landlords to look for housing. I also contacted the school district’s superintendent to make them aware of the situation. I made sure bussing would be set up for wherever the family ended up.
The day before school began we secured housing and signed a lease.
In one of our many conversations it was discovered all their furniture and belongings where in a storage facility in Pennsylvania. I supplied the family with a Bed in a Bag (CIS-managed resource) as well as toiletries. I then contacted the site coordinator again and she was able to supply a gas card for the family to return to Pennsylvania to retrieve their items from storage.
I am happy to report I just followed up with the family and all is going well.
Without a site coordinator in our schools and the backing from local supporters, I would not be able to do my job – that is to ensure there is stability for homeless students in Wayne County.”