Heading Home’s Backpack Buddies 2020

Back to School with Heading Home

This September, countless learners in Heading Home programs are prepared to return to school. In previous years, the start of school has been marked by excitement; the school provides children experiencing homelessness with stability, established routines, healthy, delicious, food, and the opportunity to make new friends. This year, going back to the classroom looks a lot different. There is still a lot of uncertainty around what in-person learning will look like or when that will happen. The financial strain on parents is even greater as they navigate providing full-time childcare with working a full-time job in a difficult economy.

Carli Baldwin, who manages volunteerism at Heading Home, designed and executed the brand-new Backpack Buddies Program, a program designed to collect and safely and contactless-ly distribute backpacks and learning supplies to school-age children in Heading Home programs. Heading Home is lucky to have many wonderful community partners who were eager to support our clients in this time of great need. Our friends at Loomis Sayles, Ropes & Gray, PwC, Samuels & Associates, The Fenn School, Cricket Wireless, and National Charity League donated 350+ backpacks filled with brand-new school supplies for learners in our shelters that were delivered by volunteers.

Children in Heading Home shelters were excited to receive the donations, and House Managers of the clients receiving the backpacks were moved by the support of the community. Heading Home House Manager, Charlene, remarked, “The residents received their backpacks today, and they are so happy. I am humbled by the great work of the community; it fills me with pride.”

Thank you to our incredible community partners who made this program a huge success. Though the new school year is surrounded by much uncertainty, thanks to you, we know that learners in Heading Home shelters are prepared for whatever the year may bring.