Needs
Our Early Reader program, A Book of My Own, gives each of our 1,200 students one book per month, for a total of 13,200 books. Additional educational support materials are needed for bilingual students and their parents, along with materials and technology are needed to support parents who are learning English along with their children so that they can help them with their homework. If all books are acquired at wholesale nonprofit pricing, the total cost is $82,700.
We need to continue our greatly expanded Cover the Basics program, where hundreds of our children have been identified as not having basic needs because of environmental situations and rising costs. Since early 2020, we have supported the children's essential needs as well as the families. This includes clothing like pants, shirts, shoes, food, toiletries, haircuts, and other daily essentials. This service is now combined with our provision of a fleece blanket, warm pajamas, and a hat and gloves for every child during the winter months. This totals $43,650.
No Hungry Mondays, our food program, has expanded into supporting the entire family, not just the child in school. The pandemic and inflation have devastated low-income families. We have found families saving and sharing their children's bag lunches when we make home visits. Food drop-offs from grocery stores and restaurants we partner with, not only feed families fully nutritious meals but keep the jobs running in these same areas where the parents often work. Food and shelter as the basics essential to life are combined in this program where we negotiate with landlords to ensure families have a rental agreement that works for both landlords and residents. No one is behind in rent, and the families are budgeting for what is possible to prevent homelessness and continue to work. We also assist and help find resources to pay utilities and medical bills and other essentials for families with no social security numbers which are needed to qualify for other programs that help residents. This is an ever-shifting number because of the changing economic environment. The expected budget is $48,000.
My Teacher's Pocket and Just Teach are part of our nascent Building Excellence programming. This year we are including essential curricula that our Title 1 teachers cannot afford to pay out of pocket. In the introductory years, the program spent approximately $27,000 on supplies for the students and teachers, with a portion of that donated. This is a critical need to keep low-income students at a level of competitiveness with their counterparts in higher-income demographic schools. We are testing a pilot program of tutoring for students most in need who have been recommended by their teachers. All of these students need extra help, and none of the parents would be able to afford a tutor. Funds would pay a stipend, especially for bi-lingual tutors who need assistance themselves and to pay for fingerprinting and background checks. To fully implement all programs would cost an estimated $55,000.
Little Seedlings provides clothing and essentials to children who have been removed from unsafe living conditions and are in some form of emergency foster care. This program also covers families who are suddenly experiencing homelessness, have situational poverty (often because of natural disasters, e.g., fires, pandemic), or are new immigrants with no other resources and are fearful of reaching out to agencies. Because we see the students in the school, the parents trust us, and we are able to assess and provide help immediately. This year, funding costs are $25,600.