Eighth-grade students at Lakeside High School are partnering with the United Way of the Ouachitas to expand outreach to the homeless community and offer new pathways to employment and a better life.
Leah Buentello and Tarynn Yates began the school year by brainstorming for projects for their Tools for Learning class, which is similar to Environmental and Spatial Technology classes. The project-based learning course incorporates technology and problem-solving, as well as life and study skills.
Their initial idea was to post bulletin boards in the area with available job listings. The team grew to include Elizabeth Kalinowsky and they decided to organize a mini job fair for all the less fortunate in the community.
They reached out to the Jackson House with their idea and were directed to the United Way, which works with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to stage the local Point-In-Time Count each year. The annual PIT Count helps calculate the number of homeless individuals, including veterans, and provides aid and resources to those who attend.
The United Way and its partner organizations welcome about 300 people to the annual local PIT Count.
The students were invited to a United Way meeting last Thursday. Buentello and Yates were joined by classmate Kevin Henson to present their plan.
"In EAST, we fix problems," Henson said. "We don't Band-Aid problems. We want to go in and help them get job applications, resumes, showers, clothes and just overall help them out."
The students said they wanted to help the local homeless find jobs and improve their long-term positions. They want to partner with other local organizations to prepare those who attend to be able to enter the workforce and connect them with potential employers.
"The main focus in this is trying to fix the problem and help the less fortunate," said Cody Lambert, EAST facilitator for the Tools for Learning class. "To be able to fix it, they want to be able to find them jobs. We are trying to do everything we can to get them job-ready."
They plan to partner with local salons to provide free haircuts. The students said they also hope to partner with the Hot Springs Fire Department and Arkansas National Guard to provide showers. Partnerships with other businesses would provide job preparation and potential employment.
"That is our biggest thing right now," Lambert said. "We are trying to find companies that are going to support us in that."
The United Way tasked the students with establishing more community contacts, advertising materials, designing and funding wristbands for the event, and assembling comfort kits and survival kits to distribute at the PIT Count. The team brought on Nicole Jones to help develop the kits.
The next PIT Count is scheduled for Jan. 23 with a makeup date of Jan. 25. The students said they plan to make progress and provide updates to the United Way by their October meeting.
"We probably won't ever be able to fix it completely, but we can make a difference and improve a lot of people's lives," Henson said.
Entities interested in working with the students can email Lambert at [email protected] or any of the students' email addresses, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].
Local on 09/27/2017