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Early in 2006 a connection was made between homeless children in Evansville, Indiana and homeless children in Boston, Massachusetts. Out of this connection, a community is coming together and Playspaces are growing for young children in shelters in Evansville.
In the spring of 2005, Luzada Hayes, Executive Director of Aurora, Inc. of Evansville Indiana, and a colleague journeyed to Massachusetts for Horizons for Homeless Children’s First Young Children Without Homes National Conference. They attended a session about Horizons for Homeless Children’s (HHC) Playspace Programs. They were taken with the concept of developing nurturing and educational places for children to play within family shelters. When they returned to Indiana there was a seed planted in their minds.
Background
Aurora, Inc. is a non-profit organization committed to ending homelessness in their community. They provide direct service to the homeless through their Homeless Outreach Team; educate the community about homelessness; promote homeless prevention; facilitate collaborative efforts around homelessness; and advocate for the social and economic changes that will make ending homelessness a reality. Evansville does not have the number of homeless children under six to warrant an independent child care center. Nor do many shelters have programming for children that age. A shelter Playspace could help fill this gap in services.
Turning the idea into reality in Indiana
Luzada presented information from the Conference to a support group of homeless residential providers. After hearing about HHC’s Playspace Programs everyone became excited. There was an immediate response to the idea of creating a Playspace in a family shelter in their area. They each surveyed their sites to see how many children they served on average per year and which shelter might have room for a Playspace. Six shelters expressed interest and the project was launched.
Building partnerships
By the fall, this sprout of an idea was growing rapidly and the project team went forward. Erin Ramsey, Executive Director of the local child care resource and referral agency, 4C of Southern Indiana, Inc., other staff of 4C, and the Welborn Baptist Foundation, a donor of 4C of Southern Indiana, who funds efforts to improve early care and learning programs for children up to five came on board. The Welborn Baptist Foundation agreed to fund two sites as a pilot program.
Seeking help from HHC
They sought guidance from Horizons for Homeless Children (HHC) and the benefit of our 15 years of experience with young homeless children and families and found answers to questions about their developing project. HHC technical assistance staff conducted a technical assistance session for the group of collaborators, providing deeper information about homeless young children and families and their particular needs, play space materials, environments and staffing. Encouraged and armed with answers to their questions, they proceeded, exploring spaces, researching materials, and engaging shelter staff in planning.
As of July, the environments in the first two sites are almost complete. 4C’s expertise in early childhood has greatly helped in setting up the spaces, ordering materials, and providing some training to shelter staff. They are also seeking independent funding to provide parent training within the shelters.
Next steps
The Playspace idea has generated more enthusiasm and excitement than has been seen in a long time among shelter providers and among board members. Enough funding has been secured for two additional sites. Once again, 4C staff will assist with room arrangements, material selections and training staff. Luzada is also working on securing funding to hire a volunteer coordinator.
4C and Aurora are currently working on a media plan to help increase public awareness, recruit volunteers, and celebrate the success so far. They believe the project will continue to be well accepted and supported and they are preparing for the volunteers and supplies that will be generated.
Lessons
“Creating an inviting space for both kids and families; making space predictable and organized is so much more than just great furniture,” says Laura Lukens-Parker, 4C's Infant/toddler Specialist. “It takes time – much more than expected. It is so important to make sure staff is part of the process, share their views, and is committed to the project.”
Staffing the Playspaces is an enormous challenge. Shelter staff, while trained to work with families, has limited child-specific training. The plans include recruiting volunteers, training them, and hiring a volunteer coordinator. The group wants to be sure that staff and volunteers “avoid the pitfall of babysitting” by learning to foster play, socialization and exploration. They hope that staff and volunteers will incorporate what they are learning about homeless young children into their daily interactions and responses to children’s behavior. “But no matter what the challenges,” says Jennifer Gronotte, 4C's program manager. “if today is better for a child because of the Playspace, then that is a good thing.”
Looking to the future
Both 4C and Aurora have high hopes for the future that include:
- Recruitment of a full time coordinator with a number of volunteers managed by Aurora;
- Development of a parent program that would follow and support families through their time at the shelter and when they secure permanent housing;
- Helping homeless young children enter school on a level playing field;
- Creation of Playspaces in every family shelter;
- Increasing public awareness and funding;
- Securing donations of new toys and books that children can keep when they leave shelter;
- Connecting with institutes of higher learning that have early care and education programs to generate support and volunteers;
- Continued technical assistance from Horizons for Homeless Children to support the growth of the programs.
Erin Ramsey of 4C says of their hopes for Playspaces for the future, “I hope more partnerships throughout the country will be created. There are so many agencies working to help children, there is no reason why they can’t come together to maximize resources and address this specific population of children and families. It doesn’t take an unreasonable amount of money to make a huge impact when people work together.”
“Being able to focus on the children has brought new rays of hope and meaning to what we do” says Luzada Hayes. “The Playspace concept is a wonderful, cost-effective homeless prevention strategy. Even though children might not be in shelter for extended periods of time, while we have them, we can lay a strong foundation for the adults they will become.”
The seed that germinated at the Young Children Without Homes National Conference in Massachusetts has become a project whose doors will soon open to provide opportunities to play and learn for young homeless children in Indiana.
Horizons for Homeless Children has developed more than 125 child-friendly Playspaces in family shelters throughout Massachusetts and has assisted in the development of 100 other such spaces around the country through a partnership with Bright Horizons Foundation for Children. These safe and welcoming play environments have given back the opportunity to play and explore to children during their period of homelessness. To learn more about Horizons for Homeless Children or the Training and Technical Assistance Program, call 617.445.1480.
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