Parents regularly tell us how important it has been for their children to remain in the same school and not be forced to move. Many parents report that when they worry less about making ends meet, their children worry less too.
There is plentiful social science research documenting the connection between housing and childhood stress, health and school performance. Children under stress have poorer health and academic performance. Children experience more stress when they live in a home with a parent who experiences severe stress. Unstable housing correlates with lower reading scores and graduation rates.
Feedback from parents in our program reinforces this research. Parents regularly tell us how important it has been for their children to remain in the same school and not be forced to move. Many parents report that since they worry less about making ends meet, their children worry less too.
This spring we celebrate three more children from Faith Community Homes families who are graduating from high school. Would they have graduated if their parent had been evicted? Statistics tell us it is unlikely. One of these children once offered to drop out of high school and get a full-time job to help his single mom pay the bills. Luckily, the mom was accepted into our program and got caught up on her bills. The child stayed in school, worked only on weekends and is headed to college in the fall.
The regular, ongoing work of Faith Community Homes is with parents. Our mentors help parents budget their money and give them tools to support the family independently in the long term. Why do we do this? Ultimately, it is for the sake of the children. We are investing in the future of our community by investing in families. Our aim is for these children to grow up to be healthy, contributing members of society. Our objective is for the work we do with parents today to filter down to the next generation to break the cycle of poverty. Thank you for partnering with us to encourage stable households for healthier, happier children.