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Urban Vibes: A TEA Middle School Investigation Into Homelessness on America’s West Coast
Urban Vibes: A TEA Middle School Investigation Into Homelessness on America’s West Coast
Our Middle School students are spending their Spring Intensive diving in and getting real with gritty issues that impact all of us.
Students will be doing their May fieldwork in and around Sacramento and the Bay Area, investigating the factors and contributing causes to homelessness. While there, students will meet with non-profit organizations, community leaders, and historians– all experts in the realm of homelessness. They will learn how providers living in a region full of insufficient housing and inadequate services must make difficult choices in terms of allocating resources
But before they go on their learning adventure, students are first building background knowledge by studying the history of homelessness in America. They’re looking at policy and practices put into place by the federal government from the time of the colonial period, urbanization, industrialization, the Great Depression, and today that have either helped or hindered the homelessness crisis.
This past week, these students used Reno as a case study for looking at what happens when people who are left behind by economic growth can’t compete with young professionals. Historically, they might have found refuge in Reno’s crumbling motels or tenement buildings, but with the city’s growth and gentrification, many of these buildings will be lost in a spree of razing, building, evictions, and renovations. During their trip to Reno, students learned about Downtown Reno Partnership, a new private nonprofit business improvement district in Reno is working with businesses, property owners, residents, city and county government to make the core of the city cleaner, safer and friendlier.
Gentrification and homelessness was the main topic of conversation during their case study. They met with two gentlemen from the organization, Mike Higdon, the marketing manager at the Downtown Reno Partnership and Grant Denton, the operations manager leading DRP’s Ambassador Team.
Grant, the operations manager leading the Ambassador Team, used to be homeless himself. He transparently shared his testimony with our students.
Thank you to our Middle School Beth Vallarino for leading our students on this very real-world intensive. And an extra special thank you to our TEA Parent photographers for capturing the moments for us to share. Our goal is grow awareness of this issue, and your photos and words help us to just that.
