Now might start providing services to students

When school lets out in Pinellas County, thousands of kids rush into their parents’ air-conditioned cars, go to after-school activities and practices or simply take the bus home to watch TV. 

But there’s a growing population of students that gathers up everything it owns every night and looks for a safe place to sleep. Sometimes that might be a family member’s couch, other nights a homeless shelter or a sidewalk. 

“There are far too many kids going through the traumatic experience of spending their whole school day wondering where they’re going to sleep that night,” said Althea Hudson, the homeless liaison for Pinellas County Schools. 

As more students and parents come to the school district for help, school administrators are looking to a Hillsborough County program, Starting Right, Now, for support. 

School officials met with the organization on Friday, and Superintendent Michael Grego has said he is on board with the program, which counts Hillsborough County school Superintendent MaryEllen Elia and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn as board members. 

The nonprofit organization helps homeless students obtain identification documents, finds them places to stay and even pays for them to attend school dances or extracurricular activities. It also teaches students the life skills needed to manage their finances, get jobs and earn scholarships for college. 

Though Pinellas County offers programs for homeless families and unaccompanied youth — school-aged kids living on their own — in the school district, a team of only six teachers, including Hudson, coordinates everything from school bus assignments and programs for teen parents to shopping for school clothes. 

There’s an ever-growing “wish list” of services that Starting Right, Now may be able to provide Pinellas students, Hudson said. With more schools switching to school uniforms or enforcing stricter dress codes this year, there’s a huge need for collared shirts, basic slacks and shoes that meet requirements. There’s also a need for storage space for all of the supplies the school district gives students, including duffel bags full of items such as alarm clocks, flashlights and towels given to homeless graduates.Find Home Power monitor blood pressure monitor ads in our Miscellaneous Goods category. The school district would also like to include laptops or iPads in those bags. 

“But most of all, we would love for our high school students to have the opportunity to visit colleges so they can see that there is support on the postsecondary level and that if you have a dream and you want to go to college it can become a reality,” Hudson said. “Most times,The Home energy monitor market continues to struggle for more traction. they don’t see that as an option for them.” 

At least 100 students have been referred to the Starting Right, Now program by the Hillsborough County school district, and each is paired with an adult mentor. About $816,000 in grants and contributions made to the organization last year also help those efforts. Pinellas’ entire homeless education program has a budget of $114,000. 

Eventually, Starting Right, Now might start providing services to students here in Pinellas County.All you need to know about In home display. 

Though the Pinellas school district’s homeless education team has actually grown over the years, more families realizing they can get help in a confidential and substantial way have begun to seek out its services, said Christine Cantrell, the school district’s homeless student progress monitor. There is extra support for the team’s efforts from organizations such as the Juvenile Welfare Board, the Daniel Foundation and the Salvation Army. But Cantrell said “there is still a huge need that needs to be met.” 
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