Back To School
Summer is ending and it is officially back to school season! Back to school means so many different things- It means new school supplies, it means new friends, it means learning amazing new things! But for families across Moore county who do not have stable housing it brings up a variety of other concerns. During the 2023 school year, there were approximately 281 families who did not have stable housing in the Moore county school system. These families meet the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness, which means that these families live:
In a Homeless or Domestic Violence Shelter
In a motel or campground due to the lack of an alternative adequate accommodation
In a car, park, abandoned building, bus station, or train station
Doubled-up with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship
In condemned or substandard housing
At Friend To Friend we operate the only domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking shelter in the county. At any given time, we have multiple families who meet the McKinney- Vento definition of homelessness. We are lucky that there are various homeless liasions at Moore county schools who assist and support our families in getting enrolled for the first time or staying enrolled with their original school, setting up transportation, supporting kids with supplies to allow them to homeschool if they need, and advocating on behalf of the families if any challenges arise. At Friend To Friend, we see the firsthand impacts of the trauma of interpersonal violence and the trauma of homelessness on the kids seeking shelter here. We support families as they transition back to school and attempt to build a sense of normalcy and routine for themselves during a chaotic time.
