The Academy Award-winning documentary "Inocente" introduces you to a 15-year-old painter at a moment in her life when everything is about to change. Not only is she moving out of her mother’s care and into a homeless shelter for teens, but she is also preparing for her first art exhibition. The artist featured in the film, Inocente Izucar, will visit Seattle for a screening event at Seattle Art Museum Friday night, Sept. 27. Community counseling graduate student Perry Firth previews the Seattle screening event and reflects on the film's themes of homelessness, immigration and domestic violence in today's "Culture Watch" post.
Firesteel Blog
Back to School: “No One Would Have Known I Was Homeless”
At age 14, Brandy Sincyr, along with her mother and sister, escaped an abusive stepfather and found herself bouncing between shelters and temporary living arrangements. Despite the many challenges of not knowing where she would sleep each night, Brandy graduated from high school -- and then went on to earn a political science degree from Seattle Pacific University in June. Now she's leveraging her own experience to advocate on behalf of the more than 27,000 homeless students in Washington state. Read Brandy's story in the final post of our "Back to School" series on student homelessness.
Back to School: Flexible Diploma and GED Programs Open Doors for Homeless Youth
A YouthCare client works toward his GED. High school completion and GED programs designed for homeless youth must focus on individual students' needs and goals. Photo courtesy YouthCare.
27,390. We've been sharing that number a lot this week because it's how many students in Washington state have been identified as homeless. What that number doesn't include is the thousands of young people who have left the school system because of homelessness. If they never find their way back to school, they are likely to become trapped in the cycle of poverty and homelessness. Melinda Giovengo, YouthCare's executive director, writes today's guest post about how flexible high school completion and GED programs can help homeless young people find a path to post-secondary education and successful careers.
Back to School: “How It Really Was”
Our blog series exploring what back to school means for Washington's 27,000 homeless students continues with contributions from youth working with the Zine Project. A program of Catholic Community Services, the Zine Project is an eight-week prevocational creative writing program serving homeless youth ages 15 to 22. Interns with the project are paid to make zines, personal publications consisting of original writing and artwork. Today we share two interns's writings about school and home, as well as original artwork.
Back to School: Homeless Students Have Rights
Thousands of parents across the state are sending children back to school this week. One in 38 of those students are homeless.
Over the next several days, as young people across the state settle into their classrooms, we’re exploring the issue of student homelessness. In Washington state, more than 27,000 students are homeless. Some live in cars; others couch-surf or sleep in motels or shelters. Fortunately, all homeless students have rights under a federal law called the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. Today we'll share the story of a teenager whose family lost their home, and list resources for helping homeless students exercise their rights.