Inside the team supporting thousands of Nashville students experiencing homelessness

La'Monia Merritt vividly remembers the first night she spent in her duplex with her two children after living in her car for months while the kids stayed with a family member.

They didn't have any living room furniture yet, but they were too giddy to notice. They spread out blankets, plugged in their TV, ate dinner, talked and prayed.

“We embraced it," Merritt said. "We had a blast. Just us.”

Before that moment, Merritt worked seven days a week, logging 14-16 hour days as a home health worker, trying desperately to rebuild her life and put a roof over her family's head after fleeing an abusive relationship.

“That was a rough part of my life,” Merritt said, her voice breaking with emotion as she wiped away tears. “It was a dark place.”

She was able to land her job in February 2022 through connections she made at an event with the Homeless Education Resource Office, also known as HERO. The office, which is part of the Metro Nashville Public Schools district, has served thousands of students and families experiencing homelessness over the years.

Initially, the HERO team gave Merritt and her kids clothing, shoes, food and other essentials. They also connected them with support services, including people who helped Merritt find a job. After 10 long months and a few setbacks, she and her kids moved into their own duplex in Hermitage, just in time for Christmas.

The HERO team was with them every step of the way, making sure they had everything from beds to kitchenware. Merritt said her son and daughter, who are 10 and 4 respectively, were ecstatic when they saw the space. She said her daughter was busy shouting her thanks to God for their new home.

“They were running around," Merritt said. "They were so excited.”

How MNPS supports students experiencing homelessness

Before they secured housing, Merritt and her children were among thousands experiencing homelessness within the MNPS district. Between August and November, the HERO office identified 2,760 MNPS students as homeless. That number marked a 50% increase from the same time last year. Catherine Knowles, who works as the program's director of special population services, said that number will likely continue to grow. Several forms pandemic-era aid are set to expire in the months to come, as well, which may create even more needs for families.

Alongside providing things like food, clothing and shoes, the HERO team also coordinates transportation for students experiencing homelessness to and from school. Federal law requires that those students remain in the same school despite their housing status or address.

"While they're experiencing disruption and uncertainty in their housing situation, we can keep them in the same school, so that they can continue those relationships with teachers and peers and have some stability," Knowles said.

The district considers children homeless if they live in shelters, transitional housing, motels, campgrounds, cars, abandoned buildings or other locations not designed for sleeping. Children who "double up" with friends or relatives because they don't have housing of their own are also considered homeless.

Even with that widened definition, Knowles said the district's numbers are likely much lower than the real total. For example, she said, older students are prone to hide that they're experiencing homelessness because they're afraid of being taken away from their families or ashamed of their circumstances.

Merritt expressed some of those same feelings as she told her story, but said she encourages others to seek assistance and trust the HERO staff.

"God has good people in place to help," she said. "If you really need help, reach out."

Community partners give back to MNPS

HERO has a long list of community partners, donors and volunteers that help power their hub, located in the old Buena Vista School building off Ninth Avenue North.

Among those partners is Soles4Souls, a global nonprofit headquartered in Nashville that collects new and used shoes and clothing to distribute to those in need worldwide. It also helps people start small businesses, with a focus on empowering people and breaking poverty. Since 2006, it’s built partnerships across 137 countries and provided more than 94 million pairs of shoes and pieces of clothing.

That includes nearly 10,000 pairs of shoes given to MNPS students and families since it first partnered with the district in fall 2020.

While the organization has a wide reach globally, Vice President of Outreach Tiffany Turner said serving her own community – and especially children – remains a deeply meaningful part of her job. At a recent Nashville distribution event, she found herself talking to a family with a teenage boy.

“The minute (his) mom said ‘we’re homeless,’ his face just dropped,” Turner said.

They didn’t have the kind of shoes the boy wanted at the event, but Turner found him later and encouraged him to talk with his teacher about connecting with HERO. She told them they had lots of shoes in his size with great brands.

Giving people a choice and empowering them, instead of simply handing them items, is a key part of what both Soles4Souls and HERO do.

“This idea of ‘I’m a customer, I'm not just the recipient’ is really powerful,” said Buddy Teaster, who helms Soles4Souls as CEO and President. “It elevates everybody in the process.”

Merritt said her story would not have been possible without the help she and her family got from HERO and the partners like Soles4Souls that support it.

“Actually, these shoes I have on are from them,” Merritt said with a widening smile on a sunny day in early October. She pointed at her green Reebok Classics.

Nowadays she's pursuing her degree in nursing at Nashville State Community College as she builds her new home health business and saves up to buy a house with a big yard for her kids. In December, she and the kids made it one step closer to that dream by moving into a single-family rental home.

"Giving up is not an option," Merritt said.

Learn more

More information on the Homeless Education Resource Office, including how to volunteer, can be found at mnps.org/students-families/services/HERO. Teachers and school support staff can also connect students directly with the HERO team.

Parents or caregivers in need of immediate assistance can also call 211 or text 898-211 for help. A "Where To Turn in Nashville" list of resources is also available at wttin.org.

Looking for more ways to support HERO?

Nashville's "Big Bash" New Year's Eve celebration is partnered with HERO. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. will donate $1 from each Big Bash event t-shirt and other event merchandise to HERO, via its Music City Inc. Foundation. Event partner Crav'n Flavor will stock up the HERO pantry for the entire month of January, while partners Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola Consolidated and Carl Black Chevrolet will support the HERO transportation fund for the next year. Learn more about the event at VisitMusicCity.com/NewYearsEve.

NCVC also just announced its relaunch of the Project615 brand, which features Nashville-themed shirts, hats and more. A portion of all proceeds for the month of December will go back to HERO. Learn more at project615.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Nashville schools support students caught in rising homeless rates