Ed Pratt: Caring for homeless students is a calling | Ed Pratt

I was recently having a conversation with a neighbor about things we wanted to include in our community newsletter. Court of the month. Meeting dates. What is happening at the local primary school? Easy stuff, right?

Suddenly this conversation took a 180 degree turn.

We started talking about Christmas and kids. What my neighbor said to me next prompted a familiar four-word statement that I spit out when stunned: “Wait! What? Repeat!

“There are over 1,000 homeless kids right now (in the East Rouge parish school system),” my neighbor said.

“Wait. What? Repeat!

My neighbor is Lamicka Montegue, a homeless ambassador with the EBR school system’s Student in Transition program. I didn’t know that was his background. But the more I learned about what she did, the more proud I became.

These homeless children, from kindergarten to high school, live in shelters, cars, with parents, friends or relatives, etc. Some move from shelter to shelter, from house to house, and others leave these places in the middle of the night without an assigned destination.

“We recently had a second grader sleeping in a car,” she said. And many others are experiencing similar situations.

Montegue is one of five people in the SITP office led by Homeless Coordinator Dr. Nicole Warren. Warren said the current number of about 1,000 students assessed today represents an increase of about 10 percent from the approximately 900 students in the 2023-24 school year in EBR.

My heart breaks for these children. But SITP is trying. It uses community groups, federal funding and state agencies to help students by providing housing, meals, clothing, toiletries, school bags, school uniforms, tutoring and mentoring programs .

Sometimes SITP helps obtain uniforms for students’ graduation. And, sometimes, Warren would say, “They just need someone to show them love.” »

The holiday season is a time when the plight of the homeless is widely visible, as people provide turkeys, meals and toys to these families, and especially children. Countless news reports talk about their situation. But it seems like they are virtually invisible in other weeks and months.

Many homeless people move from one part of the city and from one parish to another, often in the middle of the night, to escape domestic violence and financial difficulties. The place they left this morning may not be accessible to them that evening.

These children are traumatized by their situation, Warren said. Some of them have also suffered all forms of abuse and neglect. They fear what the next night has in store for them.

Warren talks about going out one night to help a teenager navigate the streets looking for a place to stay. Although it’s not recommended that she do this, “I feel what I do,” she said.

Oh, yeah, there’s the other part. These children must do their homework the next day and pay attention in class. Some children “just fall asleep in class,” she said.

Even so, Warren says many students and families overcome the cards they’ve been dealt and succeed in school.

Some children have been in the program for more than a year. Warren said her group conducts in-depth annual assessments to assess abuse of the system.

Ultimately, I’m grateful we have programs like this and the people who work on them. I can’t imagine the emotional toll this may take on them.

“Yes, it’s heartbreaking… Sometimes I pick up on the emotions of the child I’m caring for,” she said. “I feel what they feel… We all feel it.”

Due to confidentiality laws related to working with homeless students, it is difficult for the public to get personally involved when contacting families. But they can contact his office if they wish to make financial donations.

She hopes some fast food companies can help as well, adding that many desperate requests for food come after the school day.

Since this is a very demanding and emotional job, I wondered how burnout might affect her and her team.

Warren said: “I want to help them however I can, whenever I can. …Burnout is not for me. »

My heart is with you all.

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If you would like to make a donation:

Drop-off location (clothing, toiletries)

Students in transition office

12000 Goodwood Boulevard.

Baton Rouge, LA 70815

Financial donations — Deposit or mail checks to:

1050 S. Foster Drive

Baton Rouge, LA 70806

East Baton Rouge Parish School System

Attn: Betty Jones