HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN
HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN
HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN
Programs
Playspace Program
Young children living in family shelters deal with a variety of stressors and trauma that place a heavy burden on their developing minds. Homelessness can arise from the lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, domestic violence, or mental illness. The resources in family shelters primarily serve adults, while the extensive needs of young children tend to go unmet. Recent data estimates over 20,000 young children live in Massachusetts family shelters. The estimated average length of stay in a family shelter is 19 months but a family experiences multiple life transitions before shelter life. Young children subconsciously absorb the stress induced by their environment. Consistent play and learning are major components in helping a young child overcome the stress and trauma of the homeless experience. And appropriate developmental play is key to a child's growth and preparation for school. Horizons for Homeless Children operates Playspaces within family shelters across the state. Each Playspace is designed to be a safe, fun space where children can feel secure to learn through games and books, explore their imaginations through arts and crafts, costumes, and play kitchens, and play with caring, trained and vetted volunteers. These activities help form healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral connections and develop their executive functioning skills.GeographiesMassachusetts, USADatesNot indicatedSourceUser-generatedNo causes providedInfants and toddlers,Children2K$833.2KEdgerley Family Horizons Center
With the opening of Horizons for Homeless Children's new Edgerley Family Horizons Center, we can now serve 30% more children who are experiencing homelessness, 50 more at one time, for a total of 225 children. The new center also enables us to expand our STEAM programming with the new STEM Lab and Art Zone, including partnering with Tufts University’s Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development to provide a robotics program, and with the Museum of Science’s Wee Engineer program to bring even more hands-on STEM activities to the children, as well as to expand our literacy programming with our new Children’s Library. In Massachusetts, over 20,000 children under the age of six are experiencing homelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more difficult for these children. And it is the very young children who are impacted most severely. According to the American Public Health Association, the experience of homelessness can result in “toxic stress”, triggering a range of harmful biochemical impacts on a child’s mental, emotional, and physical development. Quality early education provides the tools to reduce the detrimental effects of trauma caused by homelessness. It is the most effective way to ensure their healthy growth and future success. Horizons has received recognition as a leading provider of early education, and an expert in the field for children experiencing homelessness. The Edgerley Family Horizons Center is open 7:30am to 5:30pm every weekday, year-round, providing high-quality, no-cost education for 225 children, ages two months to five years old, living in Boston area homeless shelters. We provide the children with two nutritious meals and snacks each day, often a child’s major daily food source. We also provide ancillary services that greatly benefit each child’s development. These services include early intervention, mental health, and therapeutic services such as speech therapy or occupational therapy, whatever a child needs to reach his/her full potential. They are all provided at no cost to the parents; as are T-passes to enable parents without cars to take public transportation. We have three teachers in each of our classrooms, who directly deliver specialized care to each child, at least one of which is Spanish-speaking. By having a lower child-to-teacher ratio than that required by the state, we can provide the personalized attention each child needs. Our curriculum is individualized, evidence-based, and comprehensive, with a focus on improving literacy skills, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). To promote the social and emotional development of the children, teachers effectively employ the strategies of the Center for the Social and Emotional Foundations of Early Learning Pyramid approach, complementing the individualized behavioral health services provided by Jewish Family & Children Service.GeographiesBoston, MA, USADatesNot indicatedSourceUser-generatedChild careInfants and toddlers,Children225$5.8MFamily Partnerships Program
The resources provided within the Edgerley Family Horizons Center are not only for the children experiencing homelessness, but for their parents/guardians as well, through the two-generation approach of our Family Partnerships Program. Parents regularly meet with our Family Advocates to establish personalized goals and implement effective actions towards success. These actions will help parents to achieve their goals so they can successfully support their family and obtain permanent housing. Moreover, the Family Resource Center in the new Edgerley Family Horizons Center provides hands-on resources, workshops, and assistance to parents in areas such as financial management, job applications and resume writing, and workforce training.GeographiesBoston, MA, USADatesNot indicatedSourceUser-generatedFamily servicesOlder adults,Parents200$925.3K
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