Blog Post #5: Poverty/Homelessness
The topic of this week's module and post is poverty and homelessness. Fair warning: this has been one of the most heartbreaking posts to write. Brace yourself.
The stories of Anthony, Kasey, and Roque in The Homestretch (2014) were nothing short of gut-wrenching while also quite inspirational. Each of these teenagers went through traumatic experiences at such a young age in their lives, causing them to live under a constant stream of pressure. None of them should have had to deal with the issues that were presented to them.
Throughout the film, all three teenagers fight for their right to be happy by finding outside joy in the little things, despite the challenges they face constantly. Take Roque as an example. Through difficulties with his parents and the Department of Immigration, he was forced to separate from his family and fend for himself at the start of his sophomore year of high school. SOPHOMORE YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL?!?! He was still a child. Thanks to his kind-hearted teacher, he found new goals to strive for in acting. Next we have Anthony, the father of a baby boy. He faced incredible hardships in bouncing around foster homes in his childhood, eventually living on his own at the age of 14. At 14, I was still asking my mom for help with simple tasks, not even close to supporting myself. However, Anthony too was able to finish his GED and find his joy in music production. Finally, Kasey is a true ray of sunlight in her own dark days. Her self-awareness is what gets her through, in my opinion. At one point in the film, Kasey says that she could "do a lot of bad stuff that would put her in a really bad place, just because of the stuff that I go through. But I don't, 'cause I choose not to, 'cause I don't like to fall off" (De Mare & Kelly, 2014, 0:12:02). Having this amount of pressure on her back is, besides being unhealthy, Kasey's motivation for keeping herself on. the right track. She has been through loads of trauma but motivates herself to stay up. Kasey also finds happiness in her friends and her poetry.
A similar theme is shared in Tracy Chapman's song "Fast Car". In this piece, Chapman shares the story of a hardworking young woman who does everything she can to try and escape her impoverished lifestyle. Throughout the song, she cares for her alcoholic father, marries an alcoholic man who fathers her children, lives in a shelter, and continually wants to move herself upward. She is always referencing a "fast car" that will drive her away from her misery. Listen below:
Along the lines of working incredibly hard like Anthony from the documentary and Tracy Chapman's character, a book titled Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich in 2001 tells the story of Ehrenreich's undercover experiment working low wage jobs with minimal experience. The purpose of the novel is to demonstrate how much of a toll on physical and mental health poverty takes on so many people. I was so touched by this book when I read it because it genuinely made me think about what we can do to solve this crisis.
One solution to the crisis for impoverished and homeless students in the education system is the McKinney-Vento Act, which guarantees many basic rights for homeless students. To briefly summarize, the Act allows all students, whether they have a home or proper documentation or not, to attend school. Furthermore, according to Jinghong Cai at NSBA, "between 2017 and 2019... the number of homeless students who were English language learners increased by more than 10,000" (2020). Homelessness disproportionately affects minority students. The NYSED awarding $7.1 million dollars to schools to help with homelessness is somewhat of a solution, but I am a firm believer that we need to do more across the country to save our homeless students (2022).
References:
Cai, J. (2020, July 27). Homeless Students in Public Schools Across America: Down but Not Out. National School Boards Association. https://www.nsba.org/Perspectives/2021/homeless-students
Chapman, T. (2015, November 9). Tracy Chapman - Fast Car (official music video). YouTube. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIOAlaACuv4
De Mare, A., Kelly, K., & Taber, K. (Producers), & De Mare, A., & Kelly, K. (Directors). (2014). The homestretch [Streaming video]. United States: Bullfrog Films.
Ehrenreich, B. (2010). Nickel and dimed. Granta Books.
Mc-Kinney Vento Homeless Education. (2021). New York State Education Department. http://www.nysed.gov/essa/mckinney-vento-homeless-education
New York State Education Department. (2022, August 17). New York State Department of Education Awards $7.1 Million in Federal Grants to Programs Supporting Homeless Students. http://www.nysed.gov/news/2022/new-york-state-education-department-awards-71-million-federal-grants-programs-supporting
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