Staying in School is a Constant Struggle for 10,000 Homeless Students in Chicago Each Year

Dec. 8, 2008

Story by Dionisia Koutsis

BahJae Davis and her family members were evicted early one morning from their apartment on Chicago’s West Side. Davis says the officers told the family they had only 5-10 minutes to grab what they needed.

“The sheriff came in and kicked us out and we couldn’t get our stuff,” she recalls.

The nine people in Davis’ household were suddenly homeless.

“I’m not going to say it was terrible, but it was an experience,” she says.

Davis, 17, is one of 10,000 high school students who are left homeless each year, but she’s not about to let that interfere with her education. She is a senior at Hirsch Metro High School and her favorite subject is AP calculus.

Being a homeless student offers particular challenges because homeless youth often cannot continue with their education. They are removed from their neighborhood schools and often require specialized counseling and other support services. Failing to earn a high school diploma can place them on a lifelong path to poverty and unemployment.

Nevertheless, there are resources throughout Chicago available to help people access their right to housing. The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) is one such organization, with a law project that aids people who are in unstable housing situations or are homeless.

“We are the only part of the coalition that provides free legal services to people who are homeless or nearly homeless,” said Rene Heybach, the director of the law project. “A lot of our work is around the education rights of homeless children and youth.”

Heybach works with families to help get kids in the right schools and keep them there. She said Chicago Public Schools is doing a lot better with working with students facing homelessness, but the problem persists in other districts, adding that students facing homelessness often do not know their rights.

“A lot of the suburban districts have an idea about who homeless people are… that they are minorities, they are low achievers, and obviously they are poor,” she said.

Heybach tries to inform students who are facing homelessness that no matter what their living situation is, they are allowed to stay in the school in which they were last enrolled. Missing school and changing schools can take a toll on a student’s academic standing. Furthermore, when a child faces homelessness his or her focus may shift away from education.

Through CCH, students not only receive legal advice, but also have the opportunity to obtain scholarships. The program provides financial aid to homeless or formerly homeless youth who want to attend college, no matter what grades they earned in high school. The program targets youth who have the ability to succeed in college and go on to the next phase in their lives.

“We are the richest country in the world,” said Heybach, adding that while homelessness should not be a problem for anyone in this country, it is growing rapidly.

Heybach said that the money spent each month by the United States to finance the war in Iraq would house all the homeless of Chicago.

She worked with President-elect Barack Obama in the past, and hopes he continues to stand for the human right to housing. She said Obama has donated to CCH as well.

“He has been very supportive of our organization and of our work. We view him as an ally,” said Heybach.

CCH also has an internship program for Chicago Public Schools students. The internship is open to Hirsch Metro seniors  in the school’s law program.

Davis is involved the program, working as a law intern at CCH. She helps make brochures and passes them out at schools to inform people that if they are facing homelessness, they have the right to an education.

Davis did not stop attending school, even while her family bounced all around the city. They stayed a short time with her grandmother and then at her aunt’s house. Unfortunately, they could not stay long because there was not enough room for her entire family. Eventually, they found a shelter that accepted the whole family and gave them their own room.

The staff in the school Davis transferred to knew she was living in a homeless shelter and helped out in many ways, offering her a city bus pass and school uniforms.

Davis’ siblings do not have share her enthusiasm about school. She said she tries to stay strong when she sees they are upset.

“I felt my place was to motivate them, and should show them some leadership instead of being sad,” she said.

She tries to talk to her sisters about the importance of an education and help keep them focused on school. Her younger sisters have taken the experience harder than Davis. Other students in their school criticized them when they found out that they lived in a shelter. Davis tries not to let that bother her.

“I’m not going to make anyone let me cry. They don’t know me,” she said.

After three months living in the homeless shelter, Davis’ uncle purchased an apartment building. The apartment is in the same neighborhood her family was living in before, on Chicago’s West Side. The family thought they were done moving, but now the apartment building is being foreclosed. For the second time, Davis’ family will soon have no place to live.

They have prepared their belongings in anticipation of being evicted.

“We know it’s going to happen,” said Davis. “We know what two bags to grab when we leave. I don’t care what happens. I’m going to make sure that I finish school.”