Wayne Hamilton, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Morongo Unified School District, was the guest on last week’s Up Close Show, and he discussed his work with helping families who have housing issues keep their kids in school. Reporter Jef Harmatz has the recap…
Housing in the Morongo Basin continues to be a hot-button issue, one that has only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Hamilton says there are more than 700 children identified as homeless in the Morongo Basin, with many more unidentified, and that there are laws in effect to ensure that children, regardless of housing status, will receive an education.
“My job is to remove the barriers for them to go to school. So, a family contacts us, they let us know they are having housing difficulties, we can match them with school supplies, we can match them with other services or rental assistance.” – Wayne Hamilton
Hamilton discussed new state legislation that will require a housing questionnaire to be sent to every student that will ask about their housing status.
“At the beginning of next year, it’s going to be sent out to every family, every student, so that we can collect this information. Don’t be afraid to tell us what’s really going on, its the only way we can help you, number one, and number two, these numbers are how we get money to support our programs to help our students.” – Wayne Hamilton
Hamilton went on to discuss homelessness in the high desert in general, touching on the housing crisis, assistance programs and outreach and urged anyone who is having housing issues to reach out to him through the Morongo Unified School District at 760-367-9191.
You can hear Hamilton’s full interview by listening to the Up-Close Show as a podcast on z1077fm.com
