SchoolHouse Connection Launches First-Ever National Family Shelter Community of Practice to Improve Outcomes for Young Children Experiencing Homelessness

October 06, 2025 at 09:01 AM EDT

SchoolHouse Connection (SHC), the nation’s leading organization working at the intersection of early care, education, and homelessness, today announced the launch of the first national Family Shelter Community of Practice. This two-year initiative will bring together a cohort of shelter providers nationwide to improve how family shelters meet the developmental, housing, and stability needs of children under age six experiencing homelessness.

(PRUnderground) October 6th, 2025

Participating shelters include:

Arkansas – Our House
Florida – Casa Marion
Georgia – Our House
Maine – Greater Portland Family Promise
Maine – Hope and Justice Project
Michigan – Family Promise Western Michigan
Minnesota – People Serving People
Missouri – Life House
Oklahoma – Okmulgee County Homeless Shelter
Oregon – Path Home Oregon
Tennessee – Safe Haven
Washington – Mary’s Place

Funded by the Bezos Family Foundation, the Community of Practice will create a powerful peer-learning network for family shelter providers—spaces where they can share effective practices, address challenges, and co-develop tools that ensure children in their care have safe housing, services, and access to early childhood development programs. The initiative will produce a framework for serving young children in shelter settings, spotlight exemplary programs, and widely disseminate resources nationally—ensuring impact reaches well beyond the initial cohort.

“Family shelters can be a lifeline for young children and families in crisis,” said Barbara Duffield, Executive Director of SchoolHouse Connection. “By providing support, a peer network, and proven strategies, we can make time spent in shelter a turning point toward stability—not another source of trauma.”

The Project at a Glance

The Family Shelter Community of Practice is the cornerstone of a broader national strategy that also includes:

Provider Support – Offering training, technical assistance, and tools for removing barriers to accessing programs that support children experiencing homelessness. Participating providers will include early childhood development programs, as well as housing/homeless assistance providers, healthcare organizations, and child welfare professionals.
State-Level Policy Roadmap – Providing state leaders with actionable strategies to expand access to homelessness assistance, housing, and early learning services for young children and families in crisis.

Why Shelters are Key

Homelessness in the early years can have lifelong impacts, and the younger and longer a child experiences homelessness, the more likely they are to experience it as an adult. Approximately 680,000 children under age six experience homelessness across the U.S., nearly 450,000 of whom are age three and under. Babies are the age group at greatest risk of eviction, and infancy is the age at which a person is most likely to enter a homeless shelter. In fact, half of all individuals in homeless shelters are under the age of six, yet there has been little conversation at the national level about how best to support them and interrupt the cycle of homelessness.

“Shelter providers want to do more for the children in their care, but often lack the tools or models to guide them,” said Erin Patterson, SHC’s Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships. “This Community of Practice changes that—by turning knowledge into action and action into better futures for children.”

What Participating Shelters are Saying

“Providing high quality services to homeless children has a triple positive impact, helping children grow and thrive, helping parents have the time and confidence to pursue their goals, and helping programs form a strong partnership with parents by investing in what is most important to them. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with, and learn from, some amazing organizations from all across the country to establish best practices for our field.”

Ben Goodman, Executive Director, Our House (Arkansas)

“We recognize that children experiencing homelessness face unique barriers that jeopardize their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Addressing these needs is vital to our mission of providing equitable, compassionate care and ensuring every child has the stability and support to thrive.”

Tom Seidel, Grant Administrator, CREOKS Health Services / Okmulgee Homeless Shelter (Oklahoma)

“Oregon has more unsheltered homeless children than any other state in the country – at a rate 14 times higher than the national average. We believe that housing is a basic human right, especially for these kids and their parents. We know how ACES affect children’s development, and we want to live in a community where no family experiences homelessness and where every family receives the support and compassion necessary to thrive. Participation in the National Family Shelter CoP means that we will get to learn from other programs around the country, and examine how we can improve our own programming for families with children. Additionally, we are excited to contribute to define national best practices for family shelters.”

Brandi Tuck, Executive Director, Path Home (Oregon)

“Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for mothers and their children. CASA Marion is dedicated to removing barriers for survivors escaping abuse by helping to provide resources for safety, housing, and healing. CASA Marion’s participation in the National Family Shelter CoP aligns with our work of prevention, advocacy, and intervention. SchoolHouse Connection’s support reduces barriers for survivors and can help families escaping abuse find the safety and healing they need to thrive. CASA’s tagline is Stand Up To Silence, encouraging the community to come together and use our voices to end the stigma around abuse, provide resources for survivors, and end violence in our county. Supporting those experiencing homelessness and raising awareness around it can help end the stigma around that community crisis as well and provide even more hope and healing to those in need.”

Shelby Kearns, Development Coordinator, CASA Marion (Florida)

“At Family Promise of West Michigan, children are the heart of everything we do and we believe that every child deserves an opportunity to thrive. By intervening early and addressing the unique needs of children experiencing homelessness, we are creating positive change that lasts generations. Participation in the National Family Shelter CoP means that we can create a standard practice of prioritizing children in shelter. One of the ways we can achieve our mission of ending homelessness one family at a time is by supporting opportunities to implement a developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed shelter environment that allows both children and families to succeed.”

Mackenzie Vilmont, Chief Program Officer, Family Promise of West Michigan (Michigan)

“As an organization working to end family homelessness In Nashville, the children are an integral part in our mission. Addressing their needs in terms of education, social and emotional well-being, and providing general positive childhood experiences allows us to make strides in breaking the cycle. Being able to collaborate with other organizations around the country who are going through some of the struggles and triumphs is so important to serving our families and our youth. Learning from one another keeps our work fresh and keeps us from being stagnant and encourages growth. As our organization desires to expand our community impact, participating in this group can help us tailor our programming.”

Rebecca Murphy, Senior Youth Program Specialist, Safe Haven (Tennessee)

“[Addressing the needs of children experiencing homelessness] is the right thing to do! And the best way to prevent adult homelessness is to ensure children are not. Participating in this Community of Practice will mean better information and strategies for supporting families for what will be an extremely volatile 4-5 years.”

Hoang Murphy, President & CEO, People Serving People (Minnesota)

For more information about SchoolHouse Connection and its work to address child homelessness, visit www.schoolhouseconnection.org.

Media Contact:
Leconte Lee

Director, Communications and Marketing
leconte@schoolhouseconnection.org

About SchoolHouse Connection

SchoolHouse Connection is a national non-profit organization working to overcome homelessness, from prenatal to postsecondary, through strategic advocacy and practical assistance in partnership with youth, families, schools, early childhood programs, institutions of higher education, and service providers.

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