October 11, 2011
Dear Friends and Community Members,
I am writing to let you know about children in our community who do not have
enough to eat, adequate clothes to wear to school, and who are without a
predictable place to sleep at night. I am writing on behalf of the Mt. Diablo
Unified Homeless Outreach Program for Education (HOPE) and Mt. Diablo Foster
Youth Services (FYS), model programs that serve homeless students and foster
youth in grades K-12 in our communities. Foster youth and homeless children live
in all of the communities in our district, including Walnut Creek, Clayton,
Pleasant Hill, Concord, and Bay Point.
As the holiday season approaches, please accept this as an invitation to learn
more about our local foster youth and homeless children and to consider how we
can work together to support their education. Last year, the Mt. Diablo Unified
Homeless Outreach Program for Education (HOPE) and Mt. Diablo Foster Youth
Services served 515 homeless students and 212 foster youth respectively. Last
year, we served the highest number of homeless students to date, 1.6% of the
district population.
Most of our homeless children live with parents who recently lost their jobs and
can’t afford to pay the rent or mortgage, and care deeply about their children’s
education. They live in motels, cars, homeless shelters, churches, the Winter
Nights program, move in or “double up” with friends or family members, or are
unaccompanied teenagers who “couch surf.” Foster youth, by comparison, live with
foster families to whom we are very grateful, relative caregivers, or at one of
the six group homes in our district, four of which are run by Youth Homes Inc.
The good news is that Mt. Diablo’s Department of School Linked Services works in
collaboration with district personnel and with State, County and community
agencies dedicated to improving the well being and educational success of our
children and adolescents. Mt. Diablo Foster Youth Services and the HOPE program
receive grant funding from the California Department of Education to provide
enrollment assistance for students with disabilities and those without,
tutoring, mentoring, and counseling services. Our goal is to see all children
learning at high levels and for all of our children to be healthy, self
confident, and to do their best at school. I would like to thank the teachers of
Mt. Diablo who provide excellent instruction, positive learning environments,
and caring for our students. Although it makes a long email longer, I must
mention that I’m impressed on a daily basis by the strength and resiliency of
the children and teenagers whom we serve.
Over the past five years and again last year, we received generous donations
from our teachers parents, students, school psychologists, the Special Education
Dept., TIS Dept., district office personnel, PTSA groups, school board members,
Local One M & O, MDSPA, CST, CSEA, Supervisory - all of the bargaining units in
our district. My family and friends have contributed to Mt. Diablo HOPE every
year. Google has generously donated to Mt. Diablo homeless children for the past
three years. THANK YOU!
If you would like to contribute to the educational success of our foster
children or homeless students, or simply help to make their holiday season a
little brighter, please consider donating Kohl’s, Target, Safeway, Trader Joe’s,
or other gift cards. Gift cards are helpful because they are easy to distribute
and allow students and families to choose their own clothes, food, or gifts for
each other. Some families have not been in a store to shop clothes or “luxury
items” for more than six months - they rely on donations from local churches and
nonprofit agencies. Gift cards are not as personal as when donors know the
recipients of your generosity, but they allow parents and caregivers the freedom
to shop for their children. For the first time this year, if you or your
organization would like to sponsor an individual family, please email Elsa
Dalpiaz, Secretary, School Linked Services at hope@mdusd.org and copy me at
woganj@mdusd.org. With permission, we will link you with an individual family’s
or student’s needs/wish list. On behalf of FYS and HOPE staff, we can’t tell you
enough how much we appreciate all of your donations.
Please send contributions or requests for information to: James Wogan, District
Foster Youth and Homeless Liaison, Mt. Diablo Unified School District, 2730
Salvio St., Concord, CA 94519. If you prefer, you can drop off contributions to:
Lori Amenta at the Mt. Diablo Unified District Office, 1936 Carlotta Drive,
Concord, CA, 94519, Tel: 9256828000. Please make checks payable to “MDUSD HOPE”
and indicate if you would like a receipt for tax purposes. 100% of all
contributions will go to serving foster youth and homeless students.
Finally, PLEASE forward this email to your friends and family members who might
be interested in helping local children. Last year, the small act of forwarding
this email resulted in contributions from all over the world.
Thank you for the time you spent reading this letter, and for your
consideration.
Yours truly,
James
|
James C. Wogan, MFT, LCSW, PPSC |
Have a happy holiday season.
