When you think about homelessness, the first thought that comes to mind might not be education; however, there’s no denying the role that the school system plays in the socioeconomic futures of our youth.
Millions of school-age children face homelessness each year in the United States of America. Through no fault of their own, children living under the threat of housing insecurity encounter a myriad of barriers to education that are not present in the lives of their housed peers. Some of those obstacles include:
- Lacking the necessary documents to enroll
- Inability to obtain the signatures of their legal guardians
- New curriculums due to constantly moving from shelter to shelter
- Inability to get to school due to a lack of transportation
- Difficulties studying due to distractions caused by homelessness, such as lack of internet access, sleeping in spaces unfit for human habitation, no utilities, anxiety caused by the severing of the parent-child relationship, needing to juggle school with other responsibilities like working to help with the bills, etc.
Imagine entering kindergarten under such conditions, unable to memorize your alphabet because you’re unsure of where you’re going to sleep tonight. Imagine your first day of middle school being wrought with outside stressors because you’ve already changed schools three times this year. Imagine you’re always the new kid, wandering the hallways harboring a secret that you dare not tell.
This is why homeless students are 87% more likely to drop out of high school, and those who manage to graduate high school have difficulty getting the necessary financial aid to attend college.
As a cruel and added twist, the lack of education caused by homelessness increases these students’ likelihood of enduring even more homelessness in adulthood.
Enter Winnie’s Wagon, a Mobile Classroom Catering to Unhoused Students
Fortunately, there is a shifting tide afoot in homeless education. Today, we spoke with AJ Jefferson, who’s heading up a mobile classroom with many resources to better serve Southern Pennsylvania’s homeless students. The classroom, which is called Winnie’s Wagon, could serve as a blueprint for future educators to tackle child homelessness right where it lives—in vacant desks and empty school bags nationwide.
Here’s a look at the Winnie’s Wagon program, which features a creative space for young minds to foster and grow.
Invisible People: Your claim to fame is hosting the first-ever mobile classroom in the Southwest Pennsylvania region. How does this positively impact young students who are faced with homelessness?
AJ Jefferson: Winnie’s Wagon is the first mobile classroom in Southwestern Pennsylvania and an extension of the Homeless Children’s Education Fund’s Mobile Learning Program. The Mobile Learning Program enables our educators to better serve students and their families who are not living in shelters or transitional housing.
By utilizing this mobile unit, educators can connect with students wherever they can meet, such as in parks, motels or a friend’s house, for tutoring sessions.
Invisible People: Could you describe your mobile classroom?
AJ Jefferson: Created in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Winnie’s Wagon is equipped with educational games, teaching resources, books, and school supplies. It also includes storage, bookshelves, whiteboard space, a fold-out table, and seating for tutoring, making it the perfect environment for learning. The unit also has a hotspot for internet connectivity.
The Wagon is colorful, fun, and designed specifically for our students. These tools and resources enhance the learning experience and allow students to explore new areas of knowledge, while lifting the futures of young minds facing the challenges of homelessness.
Invisible People: Because so much of youth homelessness is hidden, how are you identifying school-aged children in need?
AJ Jefferson: We partner with like-minded agencies, including shelters, local school districts, post-secondary schools, and out-of-school time organizations. These partnerships are critical in providing the educational environments necessary for these students to succeed.
Invisible People: What are some of the biggest challenges these students face?
AJ Jefferson: Homelessness is defined as lacking a regular, fixed, or adequate nighttime residence. And when children bounce from house to house, live out of a car, motel, or even worse, this is homelessness.
The psychological impact of homelessness on a child can be profound and long-lasting, as it can disrupt their sense of stability, security, and well-being, including educational challenges. These educational disruptions can lead to academic struggles while falling behind their peers. Every time a child moves households, there is a 4-to-6-month education loss. The lack of a stable environment for learning and completing homework can hinder their educational progress.
Invisible People: How did you get your start in education?
AJ Jefferson: I have managed nonprofit organizations for nearly 30 years, particularly those that played an important role in helping positively impact the lives of others, whether through education, community relations or adult programming.
Invisible People: How did you initially recognize this need for education among homeless youth?
AJ Jefferson: HCEF was founded in 1999 by Dr. Joseph Lagana. Our staff continues his vision while expanding programs and services, advocating for and positively influencing the lives of students and families experiencing homelessness.
Invisible People: Sometimes families enduring homelessness are afraid to come out of the shadows for fear of being separated by the system, and essentially having their family torn apart. How do you overcome this hurdle for homeless students needing their parents and education?
AJ Jefferson: To overcome the hurdle of families experiencing homelessness fearing separation by the system, HCEF builds trust through relationships with families and community organizations. We reassure families and raise awareness in the community that seeking educational support does not mean a family must separate and that homelessness does not mean families can’t stay together.
We reinforce this message by collaborating with trusted community organizations and shelters and offering individualized, strengths-based support through HCEF’s direct services and resources to address educational and basic needs. We advocate for policies protecting the rights of families experiencing homelessness and educate families, schools, and the community about the rights granted to them through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Invisible People: According to the National Center for Homeless Education, English learners comprise one of the largest subgroups of unhoused students. Do you have resources available for students who might be using English as a second language, or do you plan to obtain these resources in the future?
AJ Jefferson: We use the Duolingo app and all teachers use it successfully. Our goal, moving forward, is to hire more bilingual staff.
Invisible People: How would you describe the first year behind the desk of a mobile classroom?
AJ Jefferson: Winnie’s Wagon was launched in November 2023, so we are six months into providing this service to our students. Our team anticipates Winnie’s Wagon will provide more than 1,000 tutoring sessions and enrichment opportunities annually, and more than half of the students and families will receive wrap-around support such as food, clothing, shelter, mental health services, and emergency funds.
Invisible People: There are some pretty dismal statistics for youth homelessness. Between 2020 and 2021, this demographic included more than a million grade-school aged students. Studies suggest that at least one-third of homeless students do not graduate from high school. Given the current data, what could creating an educational environment for these students do for their future? What kind of impact could mobile classrooms have in 20 years?
AJ Jefferson: If we create an educational environment that sets our students up for success, they’ll succeed; it’s that simple and mobile classrooms can be an important piece of that puzzle. The caring, skilled educators who staff these classrooms are more important than the physical spaces themselves.
Students fall behind most often because they miss school and then don’t get any individualized support to help them catch up on what they missed. Educators who can meet with students flexibly to close the gaps caused by that missed class time are crucial, and we’ve seen remarkable success sending those educators out in our mobile learning spaces.
Invisible People: Can you speak to the resilience of your students in the face of such adversity?
AJ Jefferson: It’s hard to overstate how resilient our students are. Many of them have been facing housing challenges off and on from elementary through high school, yet they keep showing up, reaching out and pursuing their goals.
A substantial number of the students we work with share that after all they’ve been through, they want to go into professions such as education, therapy, and social work to be there for future kids with the same experiences. They’re a huge inspiration to our staff and I wish everyone could see how giving and tough they are.
Invisible People: Is there any one student or story that truly stands out to you and why?
AJ Jefferson: When eight-year-old Jayden and her family moved to Pittsburgh, Jayden’s sense of stability was interrupted. With this interruption came educational challenges. As previously stated, every time a child moves households, there is a 4-to-6-month education loss. The lack of a stable environment for learning and completing homework hindered Jayden’s educational progress.
Jayden’s lifeline transpired when Pittsburgh Public Schools referred Jayden to Loren, the Homeless Children’s Education Fund’s education support coordinator and mobile learning instructor. Loren learned from Jayden’s teacher that she could not read. As Loren and Jayden quickly became friends, they began reading and math tutoring sessions inside Winnie’s Wagon.
With Loren’s help, Jayden overcame the difficulties she faced with letters and vowels and her reading steadily improved. She began reading at her grade level, finally enjoying the benefits of a proper education. With Loren’s guidance and Winnie’s Wagon’s educational safe haven, Jayen’s academic journey was transformed, proving that even in the face of adversity, love and determination could prevail, turning hardships into hope.
Students Like Jayden Need Housing as a Human Right. Talk To Your Legislators Today.
As you read this, millions of children are falling behind on their reading, finding it difficult to study or not being enrolled in school at all. Child homelessness is a failure of epic proportions and our current legislators are spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to arrest homeless people rather than house them.
Use your voice to speak up for our unhoused grade school students by demanding your representatives make housing a human right.
Additional information about programs and activities for students by age group
Winnie’s Wagon is committed to supporting the educational journey of students experiencing homelessness, extending across all age groups and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive. Here’s a detailed look at the various programs and activities offered to enrich the lives of these students:
Kindergarten Through 8th Grades
- Learning Centers: Dedicated spaces within homeless housing/service facilities for the education and enrichment of children. They serve as a space where kids can do their homework, play, read and use the computer. We provide regular tech support and upgrades to all Learning Centers with computers and other educational technology, such as iPads and STEM and STEAM learning tools.
- Out-of-School-Time empowers students to realize their full potential as learners through daily on-site programming led by our expert educators and literary specialists. Students have the space and time to focus on homework, literary and creative projects.
- Annual Backpack Distribution provides more than 2,700 backpacks for children and youth with school supplies and other basic needs at local homeless agencies and community organizations.
- Cultural enrichment broadens our students’ worldviews by engaging them in various hands-on learning activities and cultural activities.
- Mobile Learning was born as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. As students and families grew increasingly isolated, this program was a bridge for those experiencing homelessness who were not staying at a shelter. Our educators meet students wherever they feel safe to learn.
Teens and Young Adults
- Hope Through Learning Awards are available to older youth who have persevered through homelessness and are pursuing post-secondary education. Awardees may use this $2,500 for tuition, books, computers, transportation, housing, and other school-related expenses.
- Teen CEO (Career Exploration Opportunity) provides an annual summer internship to high school juniors and seniors looking for workforce development. Providing a competitive weekly stipend, transportation and life skills curriculum, Teen CEO helps older youth take their first monumental step into adulthood.
- College Club, launched in 2024, is a monthly gathering (October-May) of older youth that equips students with skills and resources to prepare for their first year of college.
- Teen Night, launched in 2024, is a monthly gathering (October-April) of older youth that helps them build community, gain social, emotional, and academic support, and access community resources.
Multigenerational
- Emergency Relief provides funding up to $500 each for students and families facing an emergency or critical barrier.
- Homeless Education Network (HEN) is an alliance of community members who seek to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for children and youth experiencing homelessness.
- The Collegiate Advocacy Committee is a small group of scholarship winners dedicated to improving homeless care and educational systems. Speaking from lived experience, this group advocates for effective youth policy across Pennsylvania.
- The Collaborative Impact Grant provides an annual grant of $15,000 to a HEN member. Preference is given to HEN members who collaborate to maximize impact and serve our community.
