The economic downturn is having an overwhelming impact on families and children in Delaware. Last year in Delaware more than 2000 children were considered homeless or inadequately housed. Of those children, approximately 900 were in special education. The Clearinghouse Review March-April 2009 publication stresses that the pitfalls of being homeless are linked to anxiety and depression in nearly half of all homeless children. There are profound effects on their development and ability to learn. According to the National Center on Family Homelessness “homeless children are four times more likely to show delayed development and have twice the rate of learning disabilities compared to non-homeless children.” Research also indicates that children who move multiple times during a school year lose four to six months of learning and are much less likely to graduate from high school.
The McKinney-Vento Act defines “homeless children and youth” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term
includes children and youth who are: 1) sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (sometimes referred to as doubled-up); 2) living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; 3) living in emergency or transitional shelters; 4) abandoned in hospitals; or 5) awaiting, or in, foster care. (Delaware only) The definition also includes children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in the circumstances described above.
In a collaborative effort to give children who are homeless a warm sleeping bag that they can take with them wherever they go, a number of agencies are collaborating to launch a statewide Sleeping Bag Campaign. The goal is to collect new sleeping bags for children ages 3-21 who are homeless or inadequately housed. The campaign will last from September 15 through December 20, 2009. Those agencies include the following: the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens, the Developmental Disabilities Council, the Council for Exceptional Children, The Shepherd Place homeless shelter, Kent County Tourism, the Department of Education, Caesar Rodney School District, New Castle County Vo-Tech School District, Lake Forest School District, Food Bank of Delaware, and the Oral Health Coalition. These and other agencies will bring sleeping bags, oral hygiene products and books to homeless children across Delaware by the end of the year. Other individuals and groups, such as the Delaware PTA, Legislative Kids Caucus, Broadkill Martial Arts Academy, Jobs for Delaware Graduates, Salesianum School, Nativity Preparatory School of Wilmington and the Lower Delaware Autism Foundation are spreading the word to their membership or providing drop off locations for the bags until they are distributed in December.
The supporting agencies will host an official Sleeping Bag Kick Off and Press Conference on September 15, at 1:30 P. M. at Legislative Hall ( House Hearing Room, 2nd Floor) in Dover, DE. A photo ID is required to enter Legislative Hall. If you would like to donate a sleeping bag at this time, donations will be accepted.
McKinney-Vento homeless liaisons in each school district will be asked to assist in delivering the sleeping bags to the children in their districts. Each school district and charter school has a homeless liaison whose job is to identify students who are homeless and determine the supports and assistance needed to help them be successful. These liaisons provide school supplies and materials when needed to ensure there is no interruption to the education of these students. The materials collected during this drive will greatly assist to meet the needs of the individual students.
New sleeping bags can be donated and dropped off at the following locations:
NEW CASTLE COUNTY
Tender Loving Care Childcare & Learning Center
649 S. Carter Rd.
Smyrna
Monday – Friday
6:30am – 6:00pm
Julie Johnson
Quentin Johnson
Tender Loving Care Childcare & Learning Center
400 N. Rammuno Dr.
Newark
Monday – Friday
6:30am – 6:00pm
Julie Johnson
Quentin Johnson
Tender Loving Care Childcare & Learning Center
22 Peoples Plaza
Newark
Monday – Friday
6:30am – 6:00pm
Julie Johnson
Quentin Johnson
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church
345 Bear Christiana Rd.
Bear
M – F: 9:00am – 3:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am – Noon
Father Roger DuBuo
Food Bank of Delaware
14 Garfield Way
Newark
Monday – Friday
8:30am – 4:00pm
Charlotte McGarry
Eden Support Services Center/Christiana School District
925 Bear-Corbitt Rd.
Bear
Monday – Friday
8:00am – 3:30pm
Lavina Smith
Drew Education Support Building/Christiana School District
600 N. Lombard St.
Wilmington
Monday – Friday
8:00am – 4:00pm
Lavina Smith
KENT COUNTY
Margaret O’Neill Building,
2nd Floor
(State Office Building)
410 Federal St., Suite 2
Dover
Monday – Friday
8:30am – 4:30pm
Any of the DDC Staff
Home for the Holidays Event /
Downtown Dover Partnership
Corner of Loockerman St. and Bradford St. , Dover
Saturday, Dec. 5th only
1:00pm – 3:00pm
WSFS Bank
4566 S. Dupont Hwy., Camden
WEST DOVER
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Adrienne Hawes
WSFS Bank
286 S. Dupont Hwy., Dover
DOVER MART
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Lauren Garcia
WSFS Bank
1486 Forrest Ave., Dover
WEST DOVER
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Diane Simone
WSFS Bank
400 Jimmy Drive,
Smyrna
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Tim Sparrow
SUSSEX COUNTY
Food Bank of Delaware
1040 Mattlind Way
Milford
Monday – Friday
8:30am – 4:00pm
YWCA Delaware
20155 Office Circle, Unit 1
Georgetown
Call for donation hours.
Sarah Wyshock-Wolfe
302.253.0684
WSFS Bank
34383 Carpenters Way,
Lewes
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Tyrone Gray
WSFS Bank
25926 Plaza Drive, Millsboro
LONG NECK
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Lisa Connor
WSFS Bank
26644 Center View Drive, Millsboro
MILLSBORO
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Kris Adams
WSFS Bank
69 Atlantic Avenue, Ocean View
OCEAN VIEW
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Gary Jones
WSFS Bank
19335 Coastal Highway, Rehoboth Beach
REHOBOTH
Bank hours:
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 6
F: 9 to 7
S: 9 to 3
Lauren Kubler
WSFS Bank
38394 Dupont Blvd., Unit 2, Selbyville
SELBYVILLE
Mon – Thurs: 9 to 5
F: 9 to 6
S: 9 to 1
Linda Swift
