Posted on Oct 7, 2020
Homeless Families Struggle With Impossible Choices As School Closures Continue
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The closure of school buildings in response to the coronavirus has been disruptive and inconvenient for many families, but for those living in homeless shelters or hotel rooms — including roughly 1.5 million school-aged children — the shuttering of classrooms and cafeterias has been disastrous.
For Rachel, a 17-year-old sharing a hotel room in Cincinnati with her mother, the disaster has been academic. Her school gave her a laptop, but "hotel Wi-Fi is the worst," she says. "Every three seconds [my teacher is] like, 'Rachel, you're glitching. Rachel, you're not moving.'"
For Vanessa Shefer, the disaster has made her feel "defeated." Since May, when the family home burned, she and her four children have stayed in a hotel, a campground and recently left rural New Hampshire to stay with extended family in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Her kids ask, "When are we going to have a home?" But Shefer says she can't afford a "home" without a good-paying job, and she can't get a job while her kids need help with school.
For Rachel, a 17-year-old sharing a hotel room in Cincinnati with her mother, the disaster has been academic. Her school gave her a laptop, but "hotel Wi-Fi is the worst," she says. "Every three seconds [my teacher is] like, 'Rachel, you're glitching. Rachel, you're not moving.'"
For Vanessa Shefer, the disaster has made her feel "defeated." Since May, when the family home burned, she and her four children have stayed in a hotel, a campground and recently left rural New Hampshire to stay with extended family in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Her kids ask, "When are we going to have a home?" But Shefer says she can't afford a "home" without a good-paying job, and she can't get a job while her kids need help with school.
Homeless Families Struggle With Impossible Choices As School Closures Continue
Posted from npr.org
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I would love to take the food away from politicians. There are a lot of Americans that are going hungry now.
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Each and everyone of you, who has contracted the Coronavirus: has My Most Fervent Prayers; and, you have the Totality of My Love. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
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Did the local leadership look at 2nd and 3rd order consequences of shutting down their economies?
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