An increased number of PUSD families are facing evictions or are already homeless. As staff for PUSD's Families in Transition program, Socorro Rochas and Nick Vargas are concerned everyday with keeping children from these families in school.
"Children without a place to live obviously face more challenges in school. We try to take care of the basics for them," says Rochas. "We encourage parents to make sure kids do their homework. If a child needs materials for a science project, for instance, I say, 'bring me a list - do they need glue or scissors?" She follows every student in the program to make sure they're attending school and maintaining grades.
Families are considered eligible for the program if they are living in motels, hotels, garages, shelters, doubling-up situations, or if they just lost a home or are heading into foreclosure. Currently 346 families in the PUSD qualify.
Families in Transition links families to resources that can assist them with housing and healthcare issues and helps them to navigate the paperwork and phone calls such services require. It helps students register for school when they have no proof of address, immunization records, or birth certificates. It provides access to counselors and social workers as well as bus passes so that families can get to parent-teacher conferences and to food banks.
"I can get overwhelmed, so when I go home I think of what we did that day," says Rochas. "If we helped just two people, we still made a difference. That keeps me going."
Families in Transition needs ongoing donations of school uniforms, backpacks, and all manner of school supplies. It needs books, new and in good used condition, for kindergarten through middle school. For information, call 626-396-3698.
