homelessness

The typical homeless person in America is a child less than ten years old. He or she lives with his mother and siblings, but living does not fully describe his or her life. That typical homeless person, that child, is often bounced from home to home, from shelter to shelter, and from a place to live to the open street. Such displacement can be devastating.

Health is another area where homeless children have problems. Without a sufficient income even to support themselves, many homeless families have little access to medical insurance. Many homeless children do not have a family doctor, and get medical care only in emergencies. Without a steady place of residence, these families lose hope of ever establishing themselves in a community, and thus cannot get a regular doctor. Many illnesses, like asthma, go unchecked until they become serious living problems, or worse, emergencies.

Camp Lanowa is a small part of the solution. In conjunction with other Homes for the Homeless programs like the Brownstone schools, Camp Lanowa allows children to leave the stress of their city lives behind, have fun and learn a thing or two. Children talk and play with each other in a non-competitive environment, exploring the woods around them and gaining valuable social skills in the process. They work on their swimming and basketball skills, and they make crafts and computer projects that demonstrate their inherent creativity. Their confidence grows and their self esteem returns. And the children take those things home with them, along with a smile and a backpack full of memories.

The poverty that affects most homeless people hurts as well. Families often lack adequate food and clothing. They cannot afford school supplies and have trouble coming up with the birthday and holiday presents we often take for granted. Being poor can stigmatize a child, and often within him or her are a wide variety of negative emotions. Depression, hopelessness, shame, confusion and anger are common feelings. Many children act out as a result, losing interest and concentration, refusing to listen and occasionally becoming violent. The challenges these feelings create only get worse if the problem goes unsolved.

A child's education is impeded by homelessness. Attending a school regularly is difficult, if not impossible when a student's family is moving every few months. Attendance and homework suffer, and grades follow. After school programs are hard to attend. As a result, over one third of all homeless children in New York City repeat at least one grade in their educational careers. A quarter of them are enrolled in special education classes, and most perform below their grade level in math, reading and many other subjects. When they fall behind, the children lose confidence and their self - esteem suffers. Many pull away from school, embarassed and shy, and this compounds the problem.