There are students in our neighborhood schools whose day starts before sunrise, riding a bus 45 minutes to Leesville Elementary. When school is out, it’s another 45 minute ride home. These children live in the Washington Terrace Community, in southeast Raleigh. Washington Terrace provides a lower cost housing opportunity for indigent families, predominately African American. There are many single moms, aunts and grandparents raising the kids, as many do not have reliable fathers, or father-figures, in their life. Our Pride Packs program supports many of these households with healthy food and beverages.
Each day, many of these children go home to an empty apartment, as the adult(s) are still at work. It’s very likely homework is not foremost on their minds. Opportunities for mischief, or worse, abound in this scenario. This is where Nativity can make a difference! An amazing program called Homework Haven has quietly been providing tutors and mentors to this community several years. After school, Haven kids go straight to the community center, where they are greeted by volunteers with snacks. Once settled, we work together on homework or reading assignments. Due to home conditions, this is often the only true homework experience most of these kids may know. I said ‘we’ because I volunteered with the Haven for several years until the pandemic struck. Of all the volunteer opportunities I have done, this was the most rewarding. You witness a child’s ability to learn, and their confidence, grow right before you.
There are many ways you can help. The Haven wants to provide each child all the school supplies Leesville asks each student to furnish. The list is lengthy but includes the following items:
Book Bags (no wheels)
Packs of Sticky notes
Child size headphones (no earbuds, not Bluetooth)
Dry erase markers
Boxes of crayons (24 count)
Washable markers
Glue Sticks
Yellow highlighter markers
Pencil boxes
Pink Erasers
#2 pencils (Ticonderoga, no mechanical pencils)
Cap erasers
Pencil sharpeners
Rounded edge scissors
Marbled Composition notebooks
Donations for 10 Scholastic News subscriptions at $8/subscription Wide rule spiral notebooks (any color)
Boxes of quart and gallon size Ziplock bags
1, 2 and 3-inch binders
Plastic folders with clasps
Colored Pencils (blue, green, yellow, orange, purple)
Pocket folders
Facial Tissues
Packages of Baby Wipes
Page Protectors
Notebook paper
Reusable Water bottles
Consider donating money for their snacks – most of the kids have not eaten since before noon, and dinner may be an hour (or longer) away. I hope you are inspired to help. There is a donations link on the
website, and boxes are in the Narthex and the Estill House foyer for school supply donations. Thank you for your kindness and willingness to help; your generosity is helping create a brighter (literally & figuratively) future for all.
Matt Chytka