It may be hard for some of us to believe, but as many as 30% of Indianapolis homeless are families, and as of 2011, more than 3,150 children found themselves homelessness in Marion County on any given night.
In 2001, School on Wheels was founded by Sally Bindley to help educate the 63% of homeless Indianapolis children under the age of twelve. These children were at risk academically because they change schools at an average rate of three times a year, each time falling farther behind their schoolmates. School on Wheels began by providing tutors for homeless children in two Indianapolis locations in its founding year.
Since then, School on Wheels has grown to focus more fully on educating homeless children throughout their childhood. Project LIFE (Learning Independence and Freedom through Education) was developed to mentor middle and high school students to help them stay in school. The program also helps with financial literacy, skill and talent assessments and exploring career opportunities. These mentors provide life coaching conversations to help students consider their future successful adult lives, including jobs and the impact they want to make.
Recognizing and fully appreciating this need, HardingPoorman Group has been supportive of School on Wheels since their 2001 launch. According to Sally Bindley, “HPG understands our need to communicate with and recognize our donors in a very professional way. We are incredibly grateful for their contributions to our annual reports and communications with every single person in our database. They want us to be successful and we owe a lot of our success to them.”
More information on School on Wheels may be obtained through their website or by calling 317-202-9100.