As the son of a modest peanut farmer in rural Georgia, Jimmy Carter’s childhood was marked by hard labor and a home without plumbing and electricity. He became the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis before being elected President of the United States 30 years later. Raised in poverty in rural Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey graduated with a Speech Communications and Performing Arts degree from Tennessee State University. She went on to become one of the wealthiest and most successful women in the world.
The point is… education continually proves the key to success for everyone – despite one’s address, socio-economic background, or celebrity status. Unfortunately, barriers like poverty and homelessness can make it difficult for unhoused children to have unfettered access to a good education. The Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, established under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in 1987, seeks to change that. It is the only federal program designed to identify and remove barriers for children in need who would benefit from school attendance and educational success. In 2026, Congress appropriated $129 million for the EHCY program – helping to further ensure that children experiencing homelessness are afforded school stability, access, and support.
Nonprofit organizations like Rainbow Village seek to reinforce those efforts by providing a safe space and supportive services for the youngest members of our community to enjoy after-school programming and school break camps.
The Need is Heartbreakingly Real
During the 2023-2024 school year, public schools in the U.S. identified over 1.5 million students experiencing homelessness – the highest number on record. Given the fact that the statistics for families experiencing homelessness continue to rise, the number of unhoused students is projected to be even larger today. Factors such as lack of transportation, lack of a fixed address for enrollment, and the stigma associated with homelessness cause nearly half of the students who identify as unhoused to experience chronic absenteeism. According to the National Center for Homeless Education, the 2022-2023 national average graduation rate for homeless students was just 69.1%. Sadly, that’s when a cycle of homelessness can extend from one generation to the next, as youth without a high school diploma or GED are 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness than their peers who hold a high school diploma.
How Rainbow Village Helps Create a Bridge to Success
Given how crucial education is to success from a young age, Rainbow Village seeks to buck the trends listed above by helping our families overcome obstacles. How do we do that?…
- Families remain enrolled in our transitional housing program for up to two years – giving them a stable address to use when enrolling their children in school. With a school bus that picks up inside our community, lack of transportation becomes a non-issue.
- Rainbow Village children and youth are automatically enrolled in our Academy program – which provides educational enrichment and social skills development after school, on digital learning days, and during school breaks. Throughout the longer winter and summer school breaks, the Academy is transformed to a camp-like atmosphere, providing all-day programming, fun activities, and STEM-based education.
- Rainbow Village Academy stays abreast of its students’ academic performances and provides additional support through tutoring when needed. We often look to teacher-volunteers to lend their talents to support academic success further.
- Rainbow Village also endeavors to provide hands-on enrichment outside of core education. Our goal is to nurture children in a well-rounded way that fosters creativity. Some activities include art, dance, team play, and crafts.
- Equally important, the Academy is a safe space for children to work through the trauma they’ve experienced because of a period of homelessness. They are surrounded by peers who also have firsthand knowledge of what that period feels like. They serve, in a way, as counsel and build each other up socially and emotionally.
- Through this emphasis on their children’s needs, Rainbow Village provides peace of mind to the parents in our program. This allows them to apply the lion’s share of their focus to their jobs, paying down debt, building up savings, recovering from the trauma of homelessness, and finding their paths to self-sufficiency.
- Rainbow Village offers support to upcoming graduates of our program, aiding them in the search for their next home – emphasizing the benefits of keeping their children in the same schools, if possible, or at least in the same school system.
How You Can Help Support the Academy and the Students We Serve
It truly takes a village to manage a program like Rainbow Village Academy. While we have an innovative director and coordinator on staff to supervise much of the day-to-day after-school education of our children, we are constantly in search of support. Here are just some of the ways you can help:
- Snack and brown bag lunch donations: A great volunteer opportunity for local businesses, churches, civic groups, and schools, you can collect donations of items and/or pack lunches for our fall, winter, spring, and summer break camps. We also need snacks year-round for our after-school program. If you’re interested in providing snack or lunch donations, please get in touch with us at info@rainbowvillage.org.
- School supply and craft donations: Because we’re so hands-on at Rainbow Village Academy, we are in constant need of the replenishment of supplies. You can find our Academy wish list on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3PC7UWBDCX6CF.
- Lend your talents: We love to have teachers and tutors lend their talents to our Academy program. Not an educator? That’s okay! We also regularly welcome volunteers to lead team, arts & crafts, music, and dance activities on our campus. Interested? Please get in touch with us at info@rainbowvillage.org. For other volunteer opportunities, be sure to visit our Volunteer Page: https://rainbowvillage.org/get-involved/volunteer/.
- Financial contributions are ALWAYS welcome: When snacks and supplies run low, and we need to dip into donations to make up the difference, it’s nice to know that there are donations there to draw from. Whether making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor, we assure you that your donation will go to very good use. Donate today at https://rainbowvillage.org/get-involved/donate/.
As they prepare to return for the 2026-2027 school year, it’s not just “back to school”… it’s BACK TO SUCCESS for the kids of Rainbow Village. Please join us in wishing them a happy, healthy, and highly successful school year!
Source: SchoolHouse Connection https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/fact-sheet-educating-children-and-youth-experiencing-homelessness