Succeeding Siblings: Meet Daniela and Eric

Succeeding Siblings: Meet Daniela and Eric

Posted February 9th, 2012 by Chris with No Comments

Daniela, 12, and Eric, 8, moved into an Indianapolis homeless shelter with their mother Katherine. Moving into the shelter was rough on everyone; mom had another baby on the way, Daniela was just hitting her teenage years and Eric turned his stress into behavioral issues.

Living in the shelter wasn’t easy on Daniela. At 12-years old, she wanted nothing more than her own group of close girl friends, but she had no home to invite them to. Between taking care of her pregnant mom and little brother while living in a homeless shelter, the chances of developing a friendship group were extremely slim.

Katherine wanted a better life for her kids, and she knew that obtaining an education was vital to this goal. She worked hard to save enough money to move into an apartment doing whatever work she could find, but Katherine’s exhaustion from juggling work, financial demands and her pregnancy made it difficult to help her own children with their schoolwork. Katherine was relieved when School on Wheels offered to help her kids with their education.  She routinely checked in with the tutors to check on Daniela and Eric’s progress, and took on a more active role in the lives on both children.

Daniela did decently in school before the School on Wheels tutoring began, but she had just moved schools and struggled with the new demands of the high-level pre-algebra homework. Nikki, a School on Wheel’s volunteer, committed to helping Daniela several times to sort through her homework.



Defender Direct Rises to the Occasion

Posted February 2nd, 2012 by Alex with No Comments

Last fall, 5 employees at Defender Direct learned that there are over 3,000 homeless kids in Indianapolis, and wanted to help out.  Outside their office, they displayed 3,000 cut-out ‘kids’ to bring attention to the issue of childhood homelessness.

Then, they directed that energy into action. They created a donation page on First Giving’s website. They collected items of clothing that students were running low on. All-in-all, they raised $7,000 to go towards required school uniforms for our kids.

To thank them for their kindness and hard work, we made this video highlighting their efforts.

When the rest of Defender Direct heard about their work, they were inspired.  At their 2011 Christmas party, they donated $10,000 to help fund tutoring for homeless children in Indianapolis.

And on top of all that, those same 5 employees began tutoring with us this semester!

Thank you, Defender Direct!

(from left to right) Nathan from School on Wheels; Danny, Drew, Mark, R.J. and Pat from Defender Direct

- Learn about other groups who gave given in creative ways.
- If you’d like to help raise funds or supplies for our kids, contact Nathan Hand via email or call 317.202.9100.



9 Secrets to Help Kids Read Better

Posted January 26th, 2012 by Shalyn with No Comments

For many kids, reading is a daunting prospect. For a young reader, even the simplest books may seem overwhelming if they cannot read the words. As kids get older and are required to read more advanced passages, it’s difficult for them to retain information as they move from one sentence to the next.

While this may create a stressful reading environment for your student, there are many ways you can help foster a love of reading during the tutoring hour:

Before You Read
1. Let your child pick a book that interests him. As the saying goes – those who don’t like to read just haven’t found the right book yet.

2. Make sure the book is appropriate for your student’s reading level, not just their age or grade level. Have him read through the first page of the book. If he misses no words, the book is too easy – and if he misses many, it’s too hard. Make sure the book is challenging enough to help improve your student’s reading ability but not so difficult that he becomes discouraged.

3. If your student feels overwhelmed by being asked to read an entire book out loud, take turns reading every other sentence, paragraph, or page. Also, never be afraid to read a book out loud to a student, even if they’re in high school – children of every age like to be read to.

4. Before you begin the story: Read the title, examine the cover, and look through the illustrations or chapter titles together. Have your student predict what the book will be about by asking questions such as:
          - Have you ever read another book by this author?
          - What do you think will happen in this book?

While You Read
5. As you read together, emphasize previous connections your student may have with the subject matter of the story. Asking questions such as



Good and Bad News for the Holiday

Posted December 21st, 2011 by admin with 1 Comment

I have good and bad news for you.  We’ll start with the good.  We know that our tutoring programs are working because most of our kids (74%) are maintaining or improving their grades despite being homeless.  This is well above the standard for homeless children and youth.  However, the bad news is that, in Indianapolis, there are now more kids than ever in need of our help.

In just one hour a week, you can help make an impact on that number.  By tutoring a homeless child, you can give them the help, hope and confidence they need to succeed.  We are still accepting applications for our Tutors in Action program for the Spring 2012 School Semester.

Visit our tutoring section to learn more or apply.  Can we count on you?