As Tukwila school officials received a $1,500 donation from Inspirus Credit Union on Thursday, they cited the deep need for funding and help for their district’s homeless students.
The numbers vary by month, but at the end of last year, 350 Tukwila students were homeless—12 percent of the student population. In comparison, Seattle Public Schools told KIRO 7 about 6 percent of students are homeless. In Bellingham, 3 percent of students are homeless.
KIRO 7 asked Jonathan Houston, who oversees the Tukwila School District’s McKinney-Vento homeless program, why the percentage is so high. “Tukwila has one of the lowest vacancy rates in King County,” he said. “That means there’s not vacant houses—they’re not available housing.”
Mom Tayna Dowers left Section 8 when she felt she could afford a slightly cheaper place on her own. But she couldn’t find a new home for her and her three children. “I was a working mom,” Tayna Dowers said. “I can afford my rent every single month. It was finding that appropriate place.” Apartment complexes kept saying no because of a $675 Comcast bill she was still paying off.
Dowers had been homeless as a child and knew how it could affect her children. “When you don’t have a home to make your own food in, it's hard to eat,” she said. “So when I would go to school, I would not be thinking about my schoolwork, I'd be thinking about my next meal, where we're going to stay tonight, what’s going to happen to my siblings. When you’re homeless it’s hard to focus on school.”
It's why Houston runs the McKinney-Vento program, which Dowers and her family relied on. It provides things like tutoring and transportation to and from school for homeless students.
The Tukwila School District received $25,000 from the state this year for funding, but that funding can't go toward things like yearbooks or even extra clothing.
On Thursday, he said the donation from Inspirus Credit Union’s President Scott Adkins would go toward the program to help fund some of the things the state money does not cover.
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