M-DCPS Highlights Homeless Awareness Month

Press release from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools:

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 18, 2020

CONTACT: Daisy Gonzalez-Diego
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
305-995-2060

M-DCPS Highlights Homeless Awareness Month

November is Homeless Awareness Month and this
year, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is encouraging all schools to
use the time as an opportunity to clarify the definition of “homeless” students
who are receiving services from Project UP-START, as any M-DCPS student who
lacks fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence.

Project UP-START is the
M-DCPS program that supports students who are in the Homeless Assistance
Program or who are living in unstable housing. During the 2019-2020 school
year, M-DCPS identified and served 9,500 students.

M-DCPS partners with the Miami-Dade Homeless
Trust in its campaign to bring awareness to homelessness. This year has been
impacted by the pandemic. However, there is still a need to inform, educate and
empower members of the community – specifically on the pandemic’s impact on
homelessness in Miami-Dade County.

Due to the unique circumstances faced this
year, there will be multiple events during the months of November and December
to allow more flexible opportunities for creating homeless awareness.

In past years, there have been donation
drives, art installations and educational events. This year, Homeless Awareness
Month is going virtual. Teachers, students and organizations are encouraged to
use creativity to bring awareness to homelessness with a few examples:

·
Using videos and discussions to bring homeless awareness
into the classroom; or

·
Hosting a podcast or creating videos; or

·
Building presentations into Zoom meetings.

The annual poster and essay contests are
being planned for mid-December with a February 2021 deadline. More details on
the contests will be forthcoming from the Homeless Trust.

The Shop at
Lindsey Hopkins Technical College serves students in need year-round with new clothing,
backpacks, school supplies, food, toiletries and more. When schools shut down in
March due to COVID-19, The Shop continued preparing food and family bags of
clothing, shoes, school supplies, toiletries and personal items both for pickup
and delivery.

Additionally,
The Shop has given away gift cards from Publix, Sedanos and Target to families
in need, with Miami-Dade Schools Police officers delivering the cards
door-to-door.

Project
UP-START provides additional support services to any student who is currently
experiencing unstable housing, such as sharing the housing of family or friends
out of hardship, living in temporary shelters, public places or in a hotel/motel.
If you have school-aged children living in unstable housing or know a family in
this situation, please contact Project UP-START at 305-995-7558. Follow them on
social media using the handle @projectupstart.­­

For further information about Project UP-START,
visit projectupstart.dadeschools.net. For more about the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust visit http://homelesstrust.org/volunteer.asp.

For the most up-to-date information, please download the
Dadeschools mobile app to your iPhone or Android device. Follow us on Twitter @mdcps and @miamisup, on Instagram @miamischools and @miamisup, and on Facebook at MiamiSchools and AlbertoCarvalho

This press release was produced by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.The views expressed here are the author’s own.