This article appeared in the Gazette newspaper on Wednesday, November 3, 2004.

Devoted to helping the area’s homeless
Chelsea, Pershing students organize
event to help those less fortunate

by Meredith Hooker
Staff Writer

Fifty percent of homeless people in the Washington, D.C., area are women and children. The average age of a homeless person in the D.C. area is 9.

Students at the Chelsea and Pershing schools in Silver Spring are learning facts like these about the area’s homeless population, and are devoting time to help the homeless while earning service learning hours needed to graduate.

On Thursday, students will have a walk-a-thon to raise money to help the homeless by walking about half an hour around a track at a neighboring middle school. They’ve also spent time packing provisions for Food for Friends, a local organization that provides meals and groceries to people with AIDS and other debilitating diseases. As the holiday season approaches, students will have food and clothing drives, said Grace Santo, school therapist and service learning coordinator.

Nicholas Rodgers, 16, of Bowie, a student at the Chelsea School, and Turquoise Zapata, 12, of Silver Spring, a student at the Pershing School, have been acting as leaders for their classmates, encouraging them to get involved with helping the homeless and school activities that will benefit the homeless.

“What if one day you’re homeless?” Zapata asked.

They’ve put up posters with statistics, passed out fliers to people and made announcements about activities, Rodgers said.

They’ve also signed up as many students as possible for the walk-a-thon and are working to keep students involved, Zapata said.

It’s important for students to get involved with helping the homeless, Rodgers said. Many of the students need service learning hours to graduate and “it’s good to help out other people.”

“If you’re fortunate, you should help other people who are not fortunate get back on their feet,” he said.

“It’s not always their fault that something bad happened,” Zapata agreed.

Two formerly homeless people came and spoke at an assembly, Rodgers said, and told students what it was like to be homeless.

“It’s amazing how they go through what they do,” he said.

Meeting with former homeless people and learning about statistics has been demystifying for the students, Santo said. It’s gotten rid of ideas students may have had about homeless people being older men, and made homeless people seem “less scary.”

“I’ve learned a lot about the homeless and how they live,” Rodgers said.

“It’s great to see,” Santo said, adding that most of the students in the two schools have been excited to get involved. “They say, ‘OK, what are we doing now?’”