2007 NAEHCY Awards Recipients

The Wisconsin Rapids School District
Outstanding School-Based Education Program Providing Services to Students in Homeless Situations

Irma Oliveros
Outstanding Individual Working in a Program (Non-Instructional Staff)

Kathi Sheffel
Outstanding Individual Working in a Program (Administrator)

Louisiana Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (LAEHCY)
Distinguished Service and Leadership

Deanna Kelly
Outstanding Student or Class

My Own Four Walls, produced by Diane Nilan
Outstanding Media Presentation

Dr. Joseph Lagana
Sandra Neese Lifetime Achievement Award

The Wisconsin Rapids Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, directed by Carrie Siler, is located in a rural community in Central Wisconsin. Because of a significant increase in poverty and homelessness due to a downturn in the local paper industry, this school-based program has played an important role in stabilizing many families that have experienced lay-offs and other employment and housing transitions.

Through comprehensive training of its dedicated staff, the program identifies homeless families, children and youth. For instance, in the 2005-06 school year, over twenty-six of the District’s staff members participated in a two-credit course titled Understanding the Culture of Poverty. Community awareness is also a key objective of the program. In the 2005-06 school year, over fifty community members were trained on the educational rights guaranteed by McKinney-Vento. The Wisconsin Rapids EHCY has partnered with community agencies to implement a project, called “Community Day,” which serves as a “one-stop shop” for homeless services. The program encourages parental involvement through the Hopes and Dreams project, which connects teachers, students, and parents, by sharing parent and student social and academic hopes for the upcoming school year.

The Wisconsin Rapids EHCY program places a strong emphasis on violence prevention and the importance of building healthy relationships. Over 90% of students reported an increase in knowledge about violence prevention through pretests and posttests. Students in the Wisconsin Rapids program have demonstrated an increase of 1.4 grade levels in reading and 1 grade level in math, and the participating students maintain a 95.5% attendance rate.

Irma (center) receives her award from NAEHCY President, Shelley Reed (left) and NAEHCY Vice President, Tim Stahlke (right)

As homeless liaison for the Salem-Keizer Public School District in Salem, Oregon, Irma Oliveros serves as a leader in her community. Ms. Oliveros routinely goes above and beyond her call of duty in providing homeless youth and their families with the resources and support they need to obtain stability, self-confidence, and success in school. As Salem-Keizer’s homeless education liaison, she has significantly improved the likelihood that the homeless youth of today do not become the homeless adults of tomorrow. By effectively utilizing her resources, going the extra mile for youth, thinking creatively, and being a key partner of many community agencies, she has assisted countless homeless youth in reengaging the educational system and defining their own success.

Ms. Oliveros seeks to connect youth and their parents through a collaborative process that continuously points families in the direction that best meets their individual needs. She actively engages community partners with her professionalism, understanding of the issues, and caring spirit. Ms. Oliveros has regularly attended the City of Salem’s Social Service Advisory Council meeting. This has allowed her to partner with all the service providers in the Salem area that will best be able to serve the homeless youth and parents with whom she works.

Ms. Oliveros is widely known in her community for her active support of homeless youth and bringing their issues to the forefront to community partners, educators, and service providers. She consistently works to increase awareness of homelessness to the entire community and tirelessly advocates for their needs.

Kathi (center) receives her award from NAEHCY President, Shelley Reed (left) and NAEHCY Vice President, Tim Stahlke (right)

Under Kathi Sheffel’s leadership as homeless education liaison for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, the Fairfax homeless education program has grown exponentially in its identification process, outreach within the community, and provision of services to students experiencing severe housing uncertainty. Not only is Ms. Sheffel’s program one of the most well-respected in Virginia, but her efforts are also recognized on the national level. Given the complexity of such a large school division, Ms. Sheffel has been able to untangle a variety of legal and procedural issues and identify nuances in serving children who are homeless. She challenges her colleagues at NAEHCY to explore these issues more fully and to find ways to address them in legislation and policy. Her experiences have sometimes shaped NAEHCY’s agenda and program-solving discussions. Furthermore, she has been called upon to provide testimony before Congress to help policymakers better understand the educational needs of children without stable homes.

Within the community at large, Ms. Sheffel sees far beyond the letter of the law and works to meet the broader needs of children and their families. Her collaborations and working relationships with shelter directors, the Department of Family Services, Child Protective Services, the business community, domestic violence programs, and with agencies providing motel shelter address the barriers to access and the success that children and youth face in their educational pursuits. A Virginia law extending some McKinney-Vento protections to children and youth in foster care required school divisions to form agreements and relationships with child welfare agencies and to establish policies and procedures for ensuring immediate enrollment and other services. In Fairfax County, she has worked diligently to make sure that all school and child welfare personnel working with those students would be competent in serving their needs. Her reach extends beyond her own county as she works to support children whose families cross country and state lines in pursuit of affordable housing and services.

LAEHCY members (center) receives their award from NAEHCY President, Shelley Reed (left) and NAEHCY Vice President, Tim Stahlke (right)

The local liaisons who founded LAEHCY, which is the first state association dedicated to the education of homeless children and youth, have demonstrated extraordinary service to homeless children and youth through their collective voice, vision, and actions. One of their letters of support praises LAEHCY in the following way:

"LAEHCY has shown the power of a “collective” with a unified and deep sense of purpose – helping homeless children and youth. Its’ success demonstrates that when we step out of our roles as individuals and join together in an organized fashion, we can be stronger, more effective, and quite frankly, we can have more fun, despite the seriousness of our mission."

The role of LAEHCY became magnified in the wake of the gulf coast hurricanes of 2005 as liaisons across Louisiana offered compassion and support to thousands of parents and students; providing school uniforms, hygiene supplies, backpacks, and most importantly, the comfort and stability of school. LAEHCY’s members are not content with simply providing the services outlined in the law; they have opted to establish their own non-profit organization, seek their own funding, and expand the services they provide to children, youth, and families, including housing, clothing, shoes, immediate enrollment, awareness activities, conferences, on-line referral forms, and many other essential services.

Anyone who has come into contact with LAEHCY’s members is hard-pressed to decide which is more extraordinary: the extensive, tangible services they provide or the profound feeling of peace and love they exude. LAEHCY displays a formidable combination of competence, professionalism, and creativity, built upon a foundation of humility, love, and compassion.

Deanna Kelly is a former student of Maine Administrative District No. 75 in Topsham. She is a courageous girl who faced harsh personal challenges and handled them with maturity, courage and intelligence. Deanna’s own experience of homelessness gave her the insight and motivation to try to make a difference, so other young people would not have to go through what she did. Being academically gifted, Deanna took a number of advanced placement courses and enrolled in a course at Bowdoin College while still in high school, which led to a service learning project on the issues of homelessness and the need for community awareness. She gave presentations, mobilized community groups, generated media attention, and even rallied the support of the Governor’s office and other individuals.

But Deanna did more than a project—she gave inspiration and started a conversation. As Deanna said, “No student should have to worry about where they are going to sleep at night or how they are going to find the resources they need to get through the next day. If you want students to do well in school and graduate, then they need to focus on school.” She envisioned the school setting as a welcoming and supportive environment—a secure place for homeless youth to live surrounded by adults to will nurture and guide them. Deanna’s work has inspired her peers to “want to do more to help.” And her work has incited and raised the level of civic engagement among the students at her school. Deanna has made the difference that she set out to make . . . more of a difference than she, perhaps, would ever have expected.

Diane (center) receives her award from NAEHCY President, Shelley Reed (left) and NAEHCY Vice President, Tim Stahlke (right)

When she sold her house, bought a giant RV, and hit the open road Diane Nilan was preparing to do more than travel the country; she was on a mission to meet, talk with, and record the stories of homeless children and youth across the nation. From those interviews came the HEAR US Organization, and the voices and stories of the youngsters featured in Ms. Nilan’s documentary, My Own Four Walls. Their faces are full of hope, but their voices tell stories of transitions and despair. Hearing the voices of children, like one who described a shelter that, “just didn’t feel cozy” it is impossible to avoid an emotional reaction. Yet these children expressed solemnly, “I just wanted someone to know—someone to sit down and talk with me.” With that straightforward plea in mind, Diane Nilan allowed these children to be heard in My Own Four Walls.

Ms. Nilan is not only a filmmaker, she is a long time educator, advocate and activist for homeless children and youth, including the passage of Charlie’s Bill in Illinois, giving homeless kids the right to stay in their same school after becoming homeless. It was the first bill of its kind in the nation. The production of My Own Four Walls is just the latest of many efforts on Ms. Nilan’s part to capture the hopes and heartaches of homeless children across the country, and in turn, move people to action. The product is a DVD that is clear and compelling and a valuable training tool for those who need to hear its’ message. As stated in one letter of support, “I have seen the DVD used in trainings and conferences for educators, and the result is always the same: sniffles, silence, and a renewed sense of purpose.”

Joseph (center) receives his award from NAEHCY President, Shelley Reed (left) and NAEHCY Vice President, Tim Stahlke (right)

Dr. Joseph Lagana began his professional career as a science teacher in the Penn Hills School District in 1960; he became Assistant Superintendent of the North Allegheny School District in 1969; he then moved on to Superintendent of the Northgate School District and in 1982 he became the Executive Director of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit: a position he maintained until his retirement in 1999. At a point when most of us would have happily embraced retirement, Joseph was asking himself: “what next?” From the inception of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, Dr. Lagana had focused much of his energy on helping kids reach their potential, even as their families were dealing with issues of poverty, segregation, homelessness, addiction and other struggles. In his role as administrator, he embraced the implementation of the original McKinney Act in the late 1980s. Joseph quickly learned that federal mandates do not always mean sufficient federal funding, so he fought for funding. And when he was celebrating his retirement in 1999, Dr. Lagana requested no gifts, but did accept monetary contributions toward the creation of a fund that would support the educational needs of homeless kids in the district. At the end of the evening, and $7,000 in donations were received, a new 501(c ) 3 was born: The Homeless Children and Family Emergency Fund.

Through Joe’s commitment, hard word, tenacity and leadership, the fund has continued and grown, creating positive change for children and families in need. The Reverend Kris Stubna of the Diocese of Pittsburgh describes Joseph Lagana as a catalyst, a convener, a system-changer, an equipper, and an effective fundraiser. But Rev. Stubna also notes that Dr. Lagana is "a person of hope." He writes, "The light of hope burns in his heart and soul. That hope drives him to give hope to others – hope to those working in homeless shelters that they can make a difference; hope to the parents of homeless children that their lives can be better; hope to homeless children for their future; and, hope to all of us that we can join together to change the lives of homeless children."