School on Wheels supports homeless students in California

November 24, 4:00 PMLA Kids Community ExaminerJessica Judd

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Rosemary Olivia with School on Wheels students. 

School on Wheels provides one-on-one tutors and school supplies to over a thousand homeless students annually from Long Beach to Santa Maria.   Many believe that a first world city like Los Angeles couldn’t have a thousand kids living on the streets.  Unfortunately, there are 13,541 homeless students enrolled in Los Angeles Unified Schools alone.  For these kids who must complete homework and study for tests on top of stressing over basic survival like where they are going to sleep for the night, School on Wheels is a beacon of hope.

"Before I got involved in School on Wheels five years ago, I didn't realize that there were homeless children in Los Angeles.  It was quiet a shock to realize just how many there actually were," says Sinead Chilton, School on Wheels Communication Coordinator.  Chilton is originally from England where the child homelessness rate is practically non-existent compared to the U.S.  Many people living in Los Angeles have the same shocked reaction when they discover how many homeless children are living on the streets, in and out of shelters.  The current number of 13,541 homeless students, K-12, enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified Schools is staggering on its own, but when added with the 32% of school-aged homeless children not attending school, it's monumentally tragic.  In California there are over 200,000 homeless children who still need go to school and get an education, despite their circumstances.  With the economic crisis,  current conditions are only going to get worse.  Organizations like School on Wheels are an absolute necessity and deserve constant community support.  

School on Wheels is a non-profit that works with volunteers to provide one-on-one tutors for homeless students.  The organization was started by a retired school teacher, Agnes Stevens, in 1993, where she began teaching homeless youth in a park in Santa Monica, California.  Now, the organization works with approximately 800 volunteers and reaches over a 1000 kids annually.  Their outreach spreads from Long Beach to Santa Maria.  They have a South L.A. Learning Center and a Learning Center on Skid Row that both serve 20-30 students daily.   One-on-One tutors are provided educational resources and worksheets on School on Wheels online tutor center to assure that tutoring sessions are productive and academically appropriate for every student.  

Besides their learning centers and one-on-one tutoring program, School on Wheels provides backpacks filled with essential school supplies as well as school uniforms for children in need.  They also partner with corporate companies, such as Amgen, and their employees.  Amgen's employees are given time to work as volunteer with the students and for every hour employees volunteer, Amgen matches it with a financial donation to School on Wheels.   School on Wheels has a similar arrangement with BP, Nestle and many other organizations.  

Recently, School on Wheels received a grant from NBC Universal which will fund a new program called B.U.S (Believe Understand Succeed).  The B.U.S. program will assist these students in finding colleges, trade schools and scholarships.  The program is designed to help the students not only think of the future, but plan and prepare for it. 

Other partnerships include Hollywood Heart’s Movie Team and Safety Harbor Kids.  School on Wheels is always looking for community partnerships that enhance their program and help enrich their students’ lives.  Interested organizations should e-mail Sinead Chilton at schilton@schoolonwheels.org or telephone her at (213) 905-2777.  

Despite all these successes, there are serious concerns for the future.  The U.S. is in an economic crisis where people are losing job and homes while corporations and foundations are hemorrhaging money.   California has been hit hard.  Chilton, already witnessing some of the increased hardship, asserts, "Because of the current economic crisis, we estimate the number of children we serve is going to double.  More people are becoming homeless and at the same time shelters and organizations that serve the homeless population are closing because funding resources are diminishing.  The pot for funding these programs is getting smaller while the epidemic is getting bigger."  Programs like School on Wheels need the community's extra support, both financially and in terms of volunteering, to provide these homeless students with the educational assistance they need and deserve.