Hundreds of young homeless children prepare for school with help of Boston nonprofit
BOSTON - As the migrant crisis continues to keep emergency shelters in Massachusetts full, Horizons for Homeless Children, a nonprofit in Roxbury, is giving some kids a place to escape, play, and grow.
"Horizons is all about mitigating the impact of a challenging experience when a child loses their home," CEO Kate Barrand told WBZ-TV. "We're focused on mitigating the developmental delays that all children experience when they experience homelessness, which is a deeply toxic experience."
Horizons serves 225 homeless children as young as two months old, giving them a space to learn and grow until they're ready for kindergarten.
"I like her being at Horizons," said Jamilah Unique, whose daughter Aliza has been going to Horizons for years.
Once fallen on hard times, Jamilah and Aliza were connected with Horizons after spending time in a homeless shelter. Now Aliza is headed to kindergarten with a newfound love for learning.
"Aliza likes the teachers, loves being around the kids, likes the library," her mother explained. "You could tell she is really eager to learn."
Waitlist for children
But as homeless shelters become more congested, Horizons is forced to turn kids away from their in-person programs. They currently have about 200 children on the waitlist.
"We have seen a significant growth in our budget and resources needed to support that budget," said Barrand. "We're spending over a million dollars serving children outside of the normal emergency shelter system."
To mitigate this, Horizons has been building playrooms and learning spaces at the overflow emergency shelter sites. The nonprofit has also hired more multilingual teachers.
"We've seen a significant growth in the number of Haitian Creole families that we're serving," Barrand told WBZ.
Social and emotional needs
Many of Horizons classes are taught in both English and Spanish, and the organization's teachers have a deep understanding of their students' social-emotional needs.
"Our children suffer from housing insecurity so a lot of times we deal with a lot of social-emotional issues they may face so when they first come they're timid, or they may cry a lot," said Terrell Mosley, a three-year teacher at Horizons. "If you don't get over the social-emotional hump they're not going to be able to retain anything that you're saying to them."
Horizons also focuses on the social-emotional needs of parents. Every family who comes to Horizons is paired with a family advocate and given a free MBTA pass to easily go back and forth.
"Parents are the most important part of a child's educational journey, and when your life is in chaos it's really hard for them to be present," said Barrand.
"When she was able to go to Horizons everything switched. It was definitely something that she needed and I desperately needed it too," said Jamilah.
While Jamilah is understandably nervous about her daughter ascending into kindergarten, Aliza is excited. She says she'll miss her teachers at Horizons and the free cake the most.
"I like strawberry cake with chocolate syrup," Aliza said.
If you'd like to donate or volunteer with Horizons, visit their website.