Homeless Youth Initiative

I just got back from Houston Texas where a presentation on our Homeless Youth Initiative was a huge success. Kathi Sheffel, the Homeless Liaison for Fairfax County Public Schools and I did a workshop at the annual Conference of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth to tell others about our innovative program and what a difference it is making in the lives of homeless high school students. We were overwhelmed by the response. The conference organizers had told us to expect about 30 people at our workshop and 150 showed up! We heard from educators across the country that they are facing exactly the same situation we are; hundreds of homeless young people who are still in high school and don’t have any family support. Our Homeless Youth Initiative is a unique and innovative solution to this problem that is achieving remarkable results. I am so thankful for the backing of Fairfax County, the foundations, the faith community, our schools and the community members who are keeping us going. I also hope that those who were at our workshop will be able to take some of our ideas back to their communities to help homeless young people nationwide.

Judith Dittman