For 25 years, Our House in Decatur has provided early childhood education and support to homeless children and their parents, primarily moms. Half of its families who come from all over the metro area are unemployed. The other half have jobs, underscoring just how tenuous having a place to call home and not having one is — for everyone, says Tyese Lawyer, Our House’s executive director. The nonprofit’s nationally accredited preschool serves 79 homeless children, some as young as six weeks. Its work has not gone unnoticed. Last month, Our House received the 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Goizueta Business School. For more on Our House, visit ourhousega.org.
Q: Can you talk more about your mission?
A: Its core is about breaking the chains of homelessness. We first provide the children with the right start so they can experience successes when they get to elementary school. Research shows that children should be learning to read till third grade then they should be reading to learn. If they don’t have the appropriate early childhood education experiences upon which to build, it is a lot harder to make those targets and milestones.
Q: Who are your kids?
A: The first thing you need to know is that we have some of the best children in creation. But moving from place to place or residing in a shelter can be very challenging. It is very difficult to get the interaction with mom that they need to grow and develop. They can have a lot of social and emotional challenges to deal with. A lot of our work is providing educational services and getting them ready to be in a classroom with other children where they can focus and learn.
Q: You also serve the parents, right?
A: We have to help parents so they can continue on as one of their child’s teachers. We provide counseling, support services and referrals to resources. We also provide parents with training in early childhood education. We want them to have a skill they can use to go out and get a job. Parents also tell us that it makes them a better mother.
Q: Who are your families?
A: Our primary population is women with children who are experiencing homelessness. They are often an unseen population because a mother will find a place for her child to lay their head. They will surf from couch to couch, from friend to friend, from distant relative to distant relative trying to find the next place to stay. Unfortunately that can create a false sense of security and they are not fully able to move forward and be stable.
Q: Has the recession changed the face of the homeless?
A: We have seen an up tick in the number of two parent families. A lot of families now will say they have been evicted because their landlord got foreclosed on. They are out the first and last month’s rent plus a security deposit. For families living paycheck to paycheck, that is one of the more tragic experiences.
Q: Do you ever get discouraged?
A: I get discouraged about systems, not about families Most of the families who come to us are ready for help — mamas want the best for their children, they just do. But it is hard to move forward when there is a lack of affordable housing. Or families don’t have the emotional support or resources. In this economy, our families are competing with more educated and skilled people for entry-level jobs.
Q: Most people have never been homeless. What do you want them to know about homelessness?
A: It can happen to anyone.
The Sunday conversation is edited for length and clarity. Writer Ann Hardie can be reached by email at ann.hardie@ymail.com.
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