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Schools

District 622 Event Connects Volunteers, Services, Families in Need

622 Project Family Connect will be a one-stop shop for families with needs to connect with service agencies.

Starting this week, students from across School District 622 will be encouraged to bring donations of toiletries and food to school destined for the homes of fellow students whose families are struggling.

“I really do believe it helps all of our students become more caring and understanding,” said Principal Carol Erickson. “We always like to think that we’re able to be a part of the solution.”

The food and toiletries drive, which kicks off with toiletry collection Tuesday, Feb. 22, and food collection the following week, is one of the many efforts of students, teachers, administrators and other district staff members to prepare for an April 9 event called 622 Project Family Connect—a volunteer- and donation-driven effort to provide a one-stop shop of community services for families in need, said organizer Jennifer Terry, a math and intervention specialist for Skyview Elementary School.

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Families will get to take donated food and toiletries from the event, and connect with their choice of approximately 50 service providers, where they’ll be able to do things like sign up for food stamps, get legal advice, get help creating a resume or receive medical checks, Terry said.

“It’s actually getting a service on the spot,” Terry said.

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Terry thought of the idea for 622 Project Family Connect while she was trying to come up with a way to help improve students’ lives at home.

“You can reach them in your classroom, and hold them after school for extra training, but how do you impact their socioeconomic status?” Terry said. “How do you make a difference right where they live?”

The cause is personal for Terry, she said, because she, too, struggled for many years after becoming a single mother due to divorce.

She said she got on the Women, Infants and Children food program, and survived with the help of her parents and sister, but she missed out on a lot of other resources because she didn’t know they were available.

“I honestly thought that because I was working full time I couldn’t go to food shelves,” she said. “I didn’t know where to go and was embarrassed to ask.”

With the current economy, many families that were once financially stable are now finding themselves in need, said District 622 Homeless Coordinator Ryan Strack.

“Generally those are families that haven’t had much experience navigating a helping system,” Strack said.

From the 2005-2006 school year to the 2009-2010 school year, District 622 saw a 441 percent increase in the number of homeless students. Strack said part of that increase is likely due to greater emphasis on identifying homeless students, but that doesn’t account for all of it. Job loss and resulting eviction and foreclosure are also to blame, he said.

social worker Jennie Kula said she hopes that pride doesn’t stand in the way of families getting connected with services.

“It’s a little bit hard with some of these newly poor families, these families who have been on their feet—had their own home,” she said. “You have to really encourage them to use the tools that are available to them.”

At the event—modeled after Project Homeless Connect, which takes place in cities nationwide including Minneapolis—a volunteer will go through a checklist with each family to determine their greatest needs, and then, if the families want them to, guide them to the different service providers.

“What we’re trying to build is a personal relationship—someone in the district cares about you enough to be here and to help you connect with as many resources as possible during your time here,” Terry said.

Organizers are hoping to get 150 volunteers to help out on the day of the event. To volunteer, e-mail projectfamilyconnect@ymail.com.

Event planners have also arranged for everything from bus transportation to the event, to food and childcare for families while they’re there.

Staff members are volunteering their time to plan the event, and the funding is coming from a $2,000 grant from the 622 Communities Partnership as well as donations from area businesses and organizations, said Lisa Hoogheem, district safe schools coordinator.

No school district money is going to pay for the event, Hoogheem said.

Terry said she sees schools playing an increasingly important role in connecting families with social services.

“I think it’s the wave of the future—schools have to connect with communities,” she said. “Families are in desperate need of services and we can’t provide them all.”

 622 Project Family Connect will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 9 at Woodland Hills Church at 1740 Van Dyke St. in Maplewood. The event is free, and no registration is required.

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