Education is key to fighting local student homelessness

GREEN BAY – During the 2023-24 school year, 20,195 Wisconsin public school students were identified as homeless, the highest number seen since 2019 and a 9.1% increase from the previous year, according to the Wisconsin Policy Institute.

This is a trend that has impacted students in the Green Bay area as well, seeing a consistent rise in the number of students identified as homeless in Brown County since the 2020-21 school year.

In the 2023-24 school year, 1,468 students in Brown County were identified as homeless, 1,134 of whom are students in the Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS).

Of those students in Brown County, 155 are considered Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (UHY) — students who lack a consistent caregiver and must rely on temporary housing from others.

The McKinney-Vento program, a federal initiative, helps students experiencing homelessness stay in school by providing transportation, school supplies and connections to local support services, even if their housing situation is unstable.

“The Green Bay Area Public School District continues to provide support for our students who qualify for the McKinney-Vento Program. Our efforts primarily are focused on identifying barriers and connecting families with resources,” said Director of Communications and Public Relations for GBAPS Lori Blakeslee in a statement to the Press Times. “Homelessness is an urban, suburban and rural issue that requires the support of both the state and federal government.”

The statement added that recent funding cuts have made it more difficult for families to escape homelessness.

“Funding cuts within the Housing Administration have increased the waiting list for Section 8 vouchers. Previously, families were usually able to obtain housing in a few months. The waiting list is now a year or more,” said Blakeslee, adding that “students and their families who experience homelessness are most likely experiencing trauma” due to another funding cut in mental health staffing.

Homelessness can have many causes, with the cost of living and mental health issues among them.

“Cost of living is probably one of the biggest factors for any person without a home. The failure of their income to meet their housing expenses is what we see the most of, along with mental health barriers keeping people from providing for themselves on a daily basis,” said Tony Schneider, director of communication at St. John’s Ministries.

Schneider added that education is a big step towards solving the issue of homelessness.

“My biggest wish and the thing that I strive to do is to educate people on [homelessness], for them to understand that whether someone is homeless or not, they are a human being and should be treated as such,” he said. “No one woke up and said that they wanted to be homeless. It’s no one’s choice…. If we started to see everyone as human beings, it could go a long way to solving the problem and helping the community as a whole.”