Choose It or Lose It

Imagine you and your family were just told that you have 10 minutes to vacate your home. You can take only whatever you can fit into a backpack. What things would you take with you? What things would be hard to leave behind?

Discussion Questions:

• Why did you choose the items you took and left behind?

• How did it feel to make your choices?

• How will you do without the things you left behind?

• Where will you get the things you need but no longer have?

The following survey illustrates some of the factors that can lead to homelessness. When several of these exist, and there isn’t strong family support, people are at risk of becoming homeless. Have participants consider the following questions:

1. Could you ever become involved in a flood, fire, tornado or other natural disaster?

2. Do you work in an area of the job market where your job might become obsolete?

3. Could you ever suffer a long-term illness or accident without proper health benefits or other compensations?

4. Could a down turn in the economy or a change in your local economy cause you or your family to lose a job(s)?

5. Do you live in a household with only one full time wage earner?

6. Are you behind in monthly bills, have high credit card debt or have a home in foreclosure?

7. Are housing costs in your area increasing faster than wages are increasing?

8. Does anyone in your family struggle with alcohol, drug, or other addictions?

9. Has there ever been any form of domestic violence or abuse in your family?

10. Do you have money in savings/life insurance to cover living expenses should your spouse die unexpectedly?

Overcoming Barriers (Box Activity) - Virtual PPT Edition (download slide and open in PowerPoint)

Overcoming Barriers (Box Activity) 

Materials Needed:

• Empty boxes (6-7 boxes of various sizes)

• Post-It Notes

• Marker

Instructions:

• Ask for a volunteer to stand in the shoes of a homeless youth. The volunteer will stand in front of the group as you read the story of Jesse. 

• Tell the audience to pay special attention to any barriers that Jesse might be facing. 

• After reading the story, ask the audience what barriers they heard. For each barrier they name, write the barrier on a Post-It Note and stick to one of the boxes. 

• Hand the box to your volunteer. 

• Continue stacking boxes in the volunteers arms until there are no more barriers or they cannot carry any more boxes. Have the volunteer walk around the room with the boxes. (This should not be easy and perhaps they will drop the boxes). 

• Explain to the audience that this is what our homeless students are carrying with them each day as we expect them to accomplish the same things as the other students. 

• Now ask the audience to name some ways that we can support this student. (Answers should be things like staff training, provide transportation, community referrals, etc.) 

• With each support, remove a box from Jesse and hand it to an audience member. This symbolizes how we all have a part to play in helping our homeless students, and they may not succeed without our support. 

Overcoming Barriers: Jesse

• Jesse attends Winston School District. The secretary at Winston notices that Jesse has been getting dropped off late to school each day for the past three weeks. When asked about this, Jesse simply says that he’s been “getting a ride.” 

  • BARRIER: Transportation

  • REMEDY: Identification, set up transportation

• Winston’s residency officer finds out that Jesse’s mother is no longer living in the district. As Jesse gets dropped off at school one day, the residency officer waits for him outside and refuses to let him in the building. Jesse explains that his mom was evicted and he went to live with his girlfriend in Coopersville School District. The residency officer tells Jesse to enroll in Coopersville since that is where he is living. 

  • BARRIER: lack of understanding the law

  • REMEDY: education/staff training

• Jesse shows up at the Coopersville office to enroll. He is embarrassed by what happened at Winston. At Coopersville, Jesse is directed to four different administrators to find out if he is allowed to enroll. He tells his story four different times in the middle of the high school office. Finally, he is directed to the homeless liaison and is enrolled as McKinney-Vento. She tells Jesse that he has the right to go back to Winston. Jesse was so embarrassed and upset about what happened at Winston that he chooses not to return. 

  • BARRIER: Repeating story many times 

  • REMEDY: staff training and improve district procedure

• Jesse’s girlfriend’s is now pregnant. 

  • BARRIER: pregnant girlfriend 

  • REMEDY: refer to ELECT programs, other community supports 

• Jesse has a full-time, third-shift job that seems to interfere with his school schedule. He goes to school immediately after work and ends up being five minutes late for his first class every day.

  • BARRIER: Job interferes with school 

  • REMEDY: alter class schedules, accommodate with cyber programming, offer alternate transportation, etc. 

• Jesse’s clothes and backpack are torn. 

  • BARRIER: worn clothes and backpack 

  • REMEDY: offer supplies and clothing

• Jesse has trouble keeping up with his schoolwork and his grades are slipping. 

  • BARRIER: bad grades 

  • REMEDY: tutoring/class accommodations

Small groups of participants are given a set of cards (or a list) with different labels, such as:

 clothing, food, shelter, spirituality, cell phone, hygiene, retirement, significant other, insurance, education, transportation, health, etc. 

As a group, they must organize the priorities in order from most important priority to least important. Although the group may have different opinions, they must come to a consensus and record their top and bottom three.

Next, they will reevaluate the items and prioritize them as if they were students living without permanent housing. Again, the group must come to a consensus and record their top and bottom three.

Discussion afterward will focus on how the two lists were similar and how they were different and the reasons for those similarities/differences.

Play SPENT

SPENT was created in 2011 by McKinney and Urban Ministries of Durham. It's a free online poverty simulation platform that allows participants to experience what it's like to budget throughout a month on a poverty-level income. Challenge yourself to reach the end of the month without running out of money. 

Play What Would You Choose - Foster Care Edition

What Would You Choose - Foster Care Edition was created by the Region 2 ECYEH team in 2023. Through three scenarios, the simulation takes participants through the process of supporting youth experiencing foster care. Choose your role as a residential treatment facility case worker, a children and youth agency case manager, or a school district foster care point of contact.