School system, nonprofits offer resources amid uptick in number of homeless youth
Sign for Asheville City Schools
By Andrew James
Click here for updates on this story
ASHEVILLE, New Carolina (WLOS) — New data from Asheville City Schools shines light on the number of homeless youth in the school system.
“It’s across the nation,” said Jessica Supik, McKinney-Vento and Foster Care Liaison for Asheville City Schools. “We’re seeing quite an explosion of homeless youth and children.”
Asheville City Schools identified 212 homeless youth last year, up from 155 in the 2020-2021 school year.
“A majority of our students, ranges between 80-85% each year, are doubled up and what that means is students and families have lost housing due to hardships and economic situations,” Supik said. “And so they’re living with other family members.”
The homeless youth could also be living in hotels or shelters, or in some cases in cars or public parks.
“In relation to Asheville city, it’s definitely affordable housing,” Supik noted one of the main problems. “We just lack the ability to house our students in affordable units.”
The school system has set up resource rooms to support these students and families with food, clothing and other needs in hopes that students’ focus will stay on their education.
“If those basic needs aren’t met, then there’s no way a student can sit in a classroom, or it makes it very difficult for a student to sit in a classroom and focus on their education,” she said.
The Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) Transformation Village is one resource for local families. 15 children are currently living there.
“It also affects their mental health,” said Denise Montgomery, director of Educational Services at Transformation Village. “It affects many different things. So we here at Transformation Village are trying to narrow those gaps for the children.”
To donate to Asheville City Schools resource rooms, contact the social worker at the individual school.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
