Tag Archives: help children

Shelley Callahan | March 21, 2017En Español

Nobody’s better at wearing a brave face than a kid — whether they know it or not. If you drive around Eastern Kentucky, you’ll see children at school playing outside and laughing. At first glance, it’s not likely that you’ll truly understand the impact that increasing poverty is having on their families.

For a long time now, coal has put clothes on the backs and shoes on the feet of generations of Kentucky residents.

It’s coal country here, with mining dominating Kentucky’s industries since 1820. The Western Coal Fields, part of the Illinois basin, and the Eastern Coal Fields here in Appalachia, have been the historical centers of what was once an almost guaranteed career for able-bodied Kentuckians. For a long time now, coal has put clothes on the backs and shoes on the feet of generations of Kentucky residents.

Coal mining in Kentucky reached its peak in 1949. Since then, jobs have become more automated and mechanized; and with environmental regulations encouraging the use of cleaner fuels, the industry has been in decline. As a result, mines close. And when big coal companies pull out of a town, it’s nothing short of devastating for families.

Children Incorporated Volunteer Coordinator Terrie Simpkins, who works at Sheldon Clark High School in Martin County, Kentucky, says that the impact on the community has been shattering.

“Families lost their cars and then their homes. Our families have deep ties here, and they waited as long as they could before many gave up, and left for work in other states,” said Terrie.

As in any struggling economic system, less take-home pay means less to spend at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and other local businesses. Those stores close up shop, more jobs are lost, and daily life becomes a struggle. The Appalachian population is in decline, as former miners of Kentucky coal move elsewhere to seek better lives near the cleaner, low sulfur coal mines of Wyoming, the gas fields of North Dakota, or the auto assembly plants of Louisville, Kentucky or Marysville, Ohio.

Some of those who stay do so to care for aging parents; some feel they don’t have the education or training to compete for jobs in other areas of the country; some can’t afford to move; and some simply feel a strong connection to the land they have always known.

Future Generations of Kentuckians Struggle to Stay Afloat

With one or both parents unemployed, one in four children in Kentucky lives in poverty. The last time children in the state faced such dire straits was during the Great Depression.

Many parents find creative ways to bring in a little income with in-home hair salons, doing odd jobs, collecting cans, or chopping wood. But the money that can be earned from these efforts doesn’t put much of a dent in the growing chasm between cost of living and take-home pay. As a result, deep poverty in Kentucky brings its usual sidekicks — addiction, depression, anxiety, and crime. And these ripple effects are lodging themselves deeply within the children of these families, who often lack the basic necessities they need to succeed.

Says Volunteer Coordinator Shana Smith of the children she sees at Hindman Elementary School in Knott County, “Some are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or even unrelated people. There has been a jump in the number of babies born with addictions, which will hurt their development. I have seen a fifth grade child who could scarcely write her first name, and her struggles can be laid at the feet of her mother’s prenatal addiction.”

With one or both parents unemployed, one in four children in Kentucky lives in poverty. The last time children in the state faced such dire straits was during the Great Depression.

“For many of the kids in our program,” says Renée Kube, Director of U.S. Programs for Children Incorporated, “going to school is as big as their world gets.”

Well over 1,000 kids are currently enrolled in Children Incorporated’s Kentucky programs. Volunteer coordinators regularly report that children with warm coats in the winter and shoes that fit are more likely to show up for school. Sponsorship does far more than give children the tangible items they need: the sense that someone, somewhere takes an interest in both their todays and their tomorrows is a confidence boost that can’t be matched.

“It may surprise people to know that sponsorship in Kentucky is not just financial, but also emotional and social,” Kube explains. “The children love hearing from their sponsors – and no matter how short their reply, their correspondence is truly from the heart.”

A Challenging Future for Eastern Kentucky Children

Unfortunately, unemployment isn’t the only fallout from coal’s decline. This year, the state of Kentucky made an announcement that shocked its residents: the amount of money counties expected to receive via tax assessments for unmined coal was dramatically slashed.

Knott County, which took the hardest hit, will have to make do with a $1.5 million shortfall, two-thirds of which had been slated for public schools. Budgets were instantly revised, with school administrators taking deep cuts in personnel, supplies, equipment, and maintenance.

The repercussions of these cuts will be felt for years to come. With more children sponsored in more schools comes the development of future adults on good footing, having had the education and support they need to succeed.

As Eastern Kentucky struggles to find new ways to build a healthy economy, sponsorship ensures these children won’t get lost in the meantime.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN KENTUCKY?

You can sponsor a child in Kentucky by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | March 8, 2017En Español

When Ann and Bob Underwood first signed on as sponsors through Children Incorporated in 2006, they were looking for an opportunity to help poor children in the U.S.

Ten years and 27 sponsored kids later, they remain steadfast in their commitment to helping give underprivileged children a chance at the American Dream.

As a sponsor, we know how our funds are being used to assist those less fortunate. We feel that by helping children in the U.S., we are helping our country’s future.

To date, eleven of the children sponsored by the Underwoods have successfully graduated from high school.

We contacted the Tennessee couple to find out more about why they wanted to sponsor U.S. children, and what they’ve learned from their experiences along the way.

CI: How did you get involved with Children Incorporated?

AU: We wanted to help those who are less fortunate and live in a depressed area. We previously sponsored children in the Dominican Republic through Compassion International, but we knew that there are also American children in great need.
We did a lot of research online and found Children Incorporated. That was in 2006 – we just received a ten-year anniversary card!

CI: When you signed up, did you specify your preferences?

AU: Yes. We wanted a child from Appalachia. My husband, Bob, was born and raised in southeastern Kentucky, so he is well aware of the poverty there. Unemployment is high. Most coal mining jobs have all but disappeared.

One of the Underwood’s sponsored children from Kentucky

Later on, inspired by articles we read in Children Incorporated’s newsletters, we also requested children in their junior and senior years of high school in Kentucky, Detroit, and New Mexico.

CI: Do you communicate with your sponsored children directly?

AU: Most of the children write. It may not be often and is usually brief. A lot of times, it’s just a thank-you note for what they received through our sponsorship. Some of the older children write about their activities, goals, boy/girlfriends, pets, sports teams. We enjoy hearing from them immensely.

CI: Do you write to your sponsored children? What do you say?

AU: We always send an introductory letter when we get a new child. We also send birthday and holiday cards. If a child writes to us, we reply. If not, we just send the cards to let them know we’re thinking about them. We usually respond to whatever they have written about, and also share some of our activities.

CI: Do you send them packages or gifts?

AU: In the beginning, we sent gifts of school supplies, clothing, and toys about three times a year. We were able to get sizes from the volunteer coordinator. Children Incorporated later changed the program so that the kids can get what they need most through the volunteer coordinator. We feel that works out better for the kids.

We also send money for back to school supplies and clothing, Christmas, birthdays, and graduation. We send some extra funds for a new child if we sign up later in the school year.

We have enjoyed watching our sponsored kids grow up through the pictures that we get. We hope that the children who have graduated from high school are realizing their goals and dreams.

CI: What advice would you have for someone considering sponsorship?

AU: As a sponsor, we know how our funds are being used to assist those less fortunate. We feel that by helping children in the U.S., we are helping our country’s future. If, by sponsoring these children, we can help in a very small way to ensure that they graduate from high school, we have done the right thing. As one of our children wrote in her progress report, sponsorship meant a lot to her because it showed that someone cared about her. What could be more important?

CI: Overall, how would you characterize your ten years with Children Incorporated?

AU: Our experience with Children Incorporated has been rewarding. We are made to feel like we are the only sponsors when we communicate with the organization. We’re also impressed by all the work the volunteer coordinators do at the participating schools.

We have enjoyed watching our sponsored kids grow up through the pictures that we get. We hope that the children who have graduated from high school are realizing their goals and dreams.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN KENTUCKY?

You can sponsor a child in Kentucky by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | March 7, 2017En Español

Aimee learned a lot of things too early in life as she watched her father nearly succumb to leukemia, his resulting painkiller addiction, and the financial and psychological quicksand her family struggled in as a result.

Growing up in a small town in Eastern Kentucky, Aimee was surprised to find herself and her family staying with neighbors while her dad suffered in a nearby hospital. It seemed so sudden, the onset of his illness, and she remembers an earlier childhood of warmth and togetherness.

Aimee’s senior photo

That wouldn’t be Aimee’s lot in life for several more years, unfortunately. She was in the sixth grade when her father was diagnosed, and her memories of his painful experience with a bone marrow transplant are still very acute. It was a troubling time for both Aimee and her younger sister, and she had a lot on her mind when the volunteer coordinator at her school told her she now had a Children Incorporated sponsor.

“I didn’t think much about it at the time,” she remembers. “Except that it was nice to get money at Christmastime, and it was nice having someone to write thank-you notes to. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I really recognized the importance of giving, and the importance of helping others in need.”

With her dad’s recovery came OxyContin, a newer drug that Aimee’s family didn’t know much about. They certainly didn’t expect it to take over their lives with addiction. Money got even tighter, and relationships were even more strained. Aimee’s gifts from her sponsor became some of the only things she looked forward to, and one of the only constants she had in her life.

“I have been through more than most people would want to go through in a lifetime,” states Aimee, matter-of-factly. “Having people who showed me that they believed in me when my family seemed to be crumbling apart… It encouraged me to do better and to strive to be more and do more for the world around me.”

“It wasn’t until I was in high school that I really recognized the importance of giving, and the importance of helping others in need.”

Buoyed by Support, With Eyes Still on the Prize

As she grew, the young woman with so much on her mind dedicated herself quietly to her studies, keeping a low profile in high school and making straight As. It wasn’t difficult for her to decide that her next step was college.

Alesha graduated from Morehead State University in 2011 with a major in Education and a growing desire to give back.

Thinking back on the calmer years before the turbulence began in her teens, she describes a certain scene. Aimee and her friend, both three years old, sit under a tree. Her friend, who is deaf, has been learning sign language, and she’s teaching Alesha words, while Aimee, in turn, helps her articulate those same words.

This scene stayed with Aimee as she tried to decide how to combine her educational know-how and her considerable service-oriented energy. The feeling of sharing in her friend’s triumphs was so powerful — she realized that to her, communication is the key to really helping children improve their lives.

Aimee with her family

The memories hit home in a different way many years later, when Alesha had begun her career in education. A little boy with autism struggled to tell Aimee what he wanted. The frustration he felt was so palpable, and his tears were so real, that Aimee had to step outside of the classroom and cry herself.

Now, she’s realigned her professional ambitions and is currently studying speech and language pathology. “I’m finding that the kids I most connect with are the ones psychologists shy away from because of their communication problems,” she explains. It’s a difficult job, but it satisfies a need in Aimee that began under that tree.

Opening Doors for Future Generations

At 28, Aimee is now the mother of two children and the partner of a man who shares her desire to lift other people up. She never met her Children Incorporated sponsor, who passed away before she graduated high school, and left her the money she needed to get through college. But she thinks about him and his family often.

“I know they are going to overcome and be strong individuals – but sometimes, in the grand scheme of things, people forget the importance of kindness to all.”

Their contributions to her life helped her put many of the important things in life into focus: I matter, and people care about me. As is often the case, life hasn’t always been easy for Aimee, but a memory of that support has helped her steer her personal life toward those who are similarly-minded, and her professional life toward helping as many children as she can.

For her own kids, Aimee wants them to know the drive she feels each day to make someone else’s life better. “Whatever life hands to them,” she says, “I know they are going to overcome and be strong individuals – but sometimes, in the grand scheme of things, people forget the importance of kindness to all.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN KENTUCKY?

You can sponsor a child in Kentucky by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | March 2, 2017En Español

International Women’s Day is coming up next week, on March 8. It’s a time for us to reflect on the contributions women make to society, despite the massive challenges they face here and around the globe.

Anyone can see that women and girls are still less valued than men and boys in many cultures. Women – even educated women – still earn significantly less than men in the job market. And in some cultures, young girls are not even given opportunities for learning or growth so that they may support themselves and their families in the future.

At Children Incorporated, we work to break that cycle, helping to give children the opportunity to get an education so that they can, as adults, rise above poverty.

We’d like to think of this as a problem found only in impoverished countries, but the discrepancy is easy to track in America as well.

A recent story in the Dallas Morning News stated that seventeen percent of women and girls in Texas live in poverty. Sadly, that’s not out of line with the national average: 14.7 percent of American women are living in poverty — a significantly higher rate than that of men — according to the 2010 Census.

A lot of that has to do with the wage gap: women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men make. But it also has to do with a systematic lack of opportunities for girls, and that’s where Children Incorporated has been directing its efforts.

Education is the key

We already know that education is critical in reducing poverty rates. Many children live in situations where one or both parents are either uneducated, or at the very least, are undereducated. As such, these parents often have very low-wage jobs, with few or no benefits. Due to a lack of financial resources in the family, they have an incredibly difficult time moving up and improving their station in life. If only the parents were better educated and more qualified to hold higher-paying jobs with benefits and perks, perhaps the family could escape the trappings of poverty.

At Children Incorporated, we work to break that cycle, helping to give children the opportunity to get an education so that they can, as adults, rise above poverty.

Raising role models

One shining example can be found in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Last spring, Children Incorporated Director of Development, Shelley Callahan, and Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, visited Villa Emilia, a small compound just outside of the city that helps women and children who have been living on the streets turn their lives around.

When we educate girls, we give them a chance to have a better future.

The alleys of Santa Cruz are home to countless women who work the streets to keep their children fed. It’s hard and dangerous, and often illegal. The children grow up uneducated and homeless themselves. As they grow into adulthood, the boys can become laborers or field hands. The girls, however, often have no options but to take to the streets too — thus continuing the cycle.

Sister Pilar and the nuns at Villa Emilia find these families in the alleys and bring them to the community to live. The women are trained in garment making, the children are educated, and everyone is taught work ethic and life skills that they can pass down.

The Sisters also help families to build permanence and stability. When families move to Villa Emilia, they live in homes that are owned by the Sisters. However, with the wages they earn in the villa’s garment factory, the women purchase homes of their own, giving their children a fresh start living in a new home and getting an education.

Focusing on women has been paying off — the children wear clothes their mothers have sewn themselves, they live in houses purchased by their mothers, and they go to schools that are available to them because of their mothers’ efforts. These mothers have become role models for the girls — and the boys — of the next generation.

Focusing on women has been paying off – the children wear clothes their mothers have sewn themselves, they live in houses purchased by their mothers, and they go to schools that are available to them because of their mothers’ efforts.

Skills for life

In Lages, Brazil, Children Incorporated began supporting women of Grupo Art’Mulher, a community bakery that sells cookies, loaves of bread, pasta, and cakes. The group’s purpose is to teach business skills and a trade to mothers, who also earn an income for their work.

In its first year, twenty women received instruction on how to bake and how to sell baked goods. Grupo Art’Mulher began making a name for itself at the local market, and many members of the first class ended up getting jobs in the food industry.

That was five years ago, and since then, the program has only grown. The mothers of Grupo Art’Mulher have learned to support their families, and have learned cooking and business skills to pass down to their own children. They’ve also earned enough to give back – a percentage of the bakery income will be donated to start music and theater courses in a building across the street from it this year.

In some areas, like in Santa Cruz and Lages, we sponsor programs aimed toward women and girls specifically. But at all of our projects, we value girls and include them in our programs just as we do boys. We do not support work where intolerance or gender prejudice is known to exist.

In areas for which we fundraise to create special facilities, such as the computer lab we helped get up-and-running in Mexico, or the school we built in Bolivia, female students are afforded the same access to services as the male ones. In Guatemala, we support a wonderful school where children are given vocational training of all kinds – and the girls are just as involved, if not even more so, than the boys.

Changing communities is a slow, but steady process, and all evidence points to the fact that more and more girls are receiving a good education. That will allow them to do better in life financially than their parents did, and to slowly change the outlook of the entire community in which they live.

Self-Sufficiency

The Pumwani slum of Nairobi is considered one of the worst communities in the world. Between 70,000 and 100,000 people live crowded together in shacks about the size of an American bathroom, with no water or electricity, and along streets of mud.

One of our projects there is St. John’s Community Center, where 200 children are taught academic subjects, as well as trades like woodworking, metalwork, sewing, and cooking so that they can get jobs and get out of the slums.

And sometimes success is easy to see in someone’s face. Callahan and Bourdet met a graduate of the program, Mwanaharusi, who learned to sew at St. John’s. She saved enough money to buy a foot-powered sewing machine and now has her own business making clothes and mending garments.

It’s a modest success by some standards; but in the darkest corners of the world, it’s a major victory. A girl born into poverty — in a country where girls are often not educated at all — finishes school, starts her own business and is able to support herself and her family.

Moving Forward

With every success like Mwanaharusi’s, we move one step closer to equality. But we don’t do it alone. With funding from our sponsors, and with continued attention to childhood poverty and income inequality – both at home and abroad – we will keep moving forward together, one step at a time.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

You can sponsor a child with Children Incorporated in one of three ways – call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | February 22, 2017En Español

Shonto Preparatory School isn’t like other public schools. Located in northern Arizona, the school is in the heart of the Navajo Nation, and serves children who are economically poor, but rich in culture and history.

Most Shonto families don’t have running water or electricity, but they take daily classes to learn a language that was first written down only a generation ago. They have little money for clothes and school supplies, but they supplement their income by making and selling the art that represents their tribal history.

“Children Incorporated helps them be able to get clothes and school supplies and food.”

Marlita has worked as the media resource officer for Shonto Preparatory School since 1996, and she works as a volunteer coordinator for Children Incorporated, helping to connect sponsors to students who need financial support.

“Children Incorporated helps them be able to get clothes and school supplies and food,” she said. “Most of the families use [sponsorship funds] for clothes and shoes, but I have one family who uses the money totally for food – so I know they’re really hurting for food.”

An Employment Desert

Shonto is an elementary, middle, and high school with just over 600 students altogether. Virtually all of them are Native American, and more than ninety percent of them qualify for free or reduced lunches.

Marlita (right) with other volunteer coordinators in Arizona

Much of the reason for this poverty is that jobs are scarce, Marlita said. There are eight or ten jobs at each of the three trading posts in the area, along with a health clinic, and the two schools — but that’s about it. Even those few employment opportunities are hard to get; the clinic employees are mostly highly-skilled healthcare workers, and the schools require a college degree of anyone working directly with children.

There’s a Walmart, a coal mine, and a power plant about an hour away, but the coal mine and power plant are both slated to close. Most families supplement what little income they have by making and selling traditional Navajo art and crafts.

Cottage Crafts

“The Navajo are extremely talented with art – any kind of art,” Marlita said. “They do painting, beadwork, jewelry, metalworking, rug weaving – and, of course, pottery.”

A few local artists earn enough to make a living at it, and a couple of them have become internationally known; but for most, arts and crafts just help to make ends meet.

Home gardens help, too, and corn is the primary backyard crop. The local species requires very little water, which is fortunate, because most residents depend on the rain, not irrigation or hoses. The local corn isn’t eaten by itself, though – it’s too tough. Instead, it’s ground up and cooked with other ingredients.

Some residents also sell food on the streets to make money. For instance, a few people sell burritos outside the school every morning.

But most have very little money, so Children Incorporated sponsors help the children receive the needed items their parents struggle to provide.

Shopping Trips

Marlita manages the shopping for those with sponsors. When the children’s funding comes in, she meets the families at Walmart, where they’re told how much they have to spend, and what it can be used for.

Each family then makes their own decisions about what they need most – shoes or backpacks, shampoo or bread – and then they meet her at the checkout line.

“I review their purchases to be sure everything is appropriate,” she said. “Sometimes I have to tell the students, ‘No, I’m sorry, that’s not acceptable.’ But for the most part, they are buying clothes and shoes and school supplies.”

But most have very little money, so Children Incorporated sponsors help the children receive the needed items their parents struggle to provide.

Marlita takes a look at their food choices, too, counseling them on nutrition as she decides what may be purchased with Children Incorporated funds.

“I tell them that pop is not okay, but juice or even Kool-Aid, I’ll accept,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard, because sometimes the families don’t understand – it’s what they’ve been used to getting.”

Once everything has been rung up, Marlita pays for it with the family’s gift card, which was purchased with the child’s sponsorship funds.

One of the benefits to waiting in the checkout area is that she sees everyone who comes through the store, and she’s always greeted by former students.

“They’re always excited to see me,” she said. “I get to keep up with a lot of them that way.”

Of course, since Walmart is more than sixty miles from Shonto, some families can’t get there. Some send their shopping lists to Haviland, and she buys their items for them. And a few older students are allowed to do their family shopping online from the school, with Haviland’s assistance.

The children and Haviland are used to managing without direct parental involvement. Many students live with grandparents or other relatives, either because parents have had to take jobs far away, or because they’re not in the picture at all.

Cultural identity

Some families still live in the eight-sided hogans that the Navajo have traditionally built, but nowadays, most live in one-room homes made of wood or concrete blocks – though they’re little more than sheds.

An exterior picture of the Shonto school campus

“It used to be that very few kids had running water and electricity, but they’re becoming more and more common,” Haviland said. “In a survey a year ago, more of them said they have water and electricity – but not necessarily at their house; it’s often at another relative’s house they go to.”

One of the challenges faced by educators and aid workers is how to improve the children’s quality of life without erasing their cultural identity. To help maintain the children’s heritage, the school now mandates that everyone take a Navajo class every day.

Traditionally, the language is oral, and was never written down until the 1930s (which is why it was used by U.S. code talkers in World War II; since it wasn’t written, it couldn’t easily be learned by non-native speakers). When Haviland first came to Shonto, most children spoke Navajo, but not English. Over the years, however, the Navajo language has been dying out. Now, few children speak it, and few older people can read or write it.

Respecting families’ language, food, arts, and culture while also ensuring children have shoes that fit and healthy meals to eat is an ongoing challenge; but financial support from Children Incorporated makes it possible, Haviland said.

A Helping Hand

In her trips to Walmart, she watches her students learn to make good spending decisions, and get to pick out their own clothes and school supplies. And she gets to see these life lessons pay off in the form of former students who greet her as successful adults.

And she doesn’t always have to make the sixty-mile trip to Walmart to see it.

“We have former Children Incorporated students who work at the school,” she said. “One is a teacher. I didn’t know until he said, ‘Yeah, when I was a kid, I was in the Children Incorporated program.’”

“Shonto is a wonderful community,” she added. “The people are very friendly and sociable – they just need a hand.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Arizona?

You can sponsor a child in Arizona by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

Shelley Callahan | February 16, 2017En Español

At first glance, it would seem like the Navajo community in the Arizona high desert has little in common with the inner city neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.

Both areas though, are food deserts, where residents can’t buy produce or other healthy foods because there aren’t any to be found.

In Washington, D.C. and other major U.S. cities, food deserts are located in low-income areas. There are no grocery stores there – just corner markets where residents can buy potato chips or soft drinks, or maybe canned soup – but not fruits or vegetables.

“There aren’t enough full-service grocery stores that serve fresh fruits and vegetables.”

If you’ve got a car, you can drive a few miles to a grocery store outside of the city – but many inner-city residents don’t have cars; or the time and mobility required to take public transit out for a shopping trip; or the wherewithal to carry more than a single bag of groceries on the bus or train.

In Arizona, it’s both different and the same. Within much of the Navajo Nation, the only places to buy food are convenience stores. Like the corner stores of Washington, D.C., they sell snacks and often cheese fries, but no produce.

Navajo families usually have cars or trucks, but in Arizona, the nearest grocery store isn’t a couple of miles away – it’s more like 60 miles away.

So just as in D.C., the poorer families of Arizona live on Hot Pockets and canned pasta, potato chips and Coke, and other quick snacks bought from quick-stop stores.

“There are too many transportation barriers to accessing nutritious food,” said Renée Kube, Director of U.S. Programs for Children Incorporated. “There aren’t enough full-service grocery stores that serve fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Solving the Problem

Growing plants and vegetables at school

In Washington, D.C., Children Incorporated has been solving the problem by launching farmers’ markets in the schools. The Joyful Food Market is a partnership program between Children Incorporated and local non-profit Martha’s Table, which allows families to shop for fresh produce just as at any other farmers’ market.

The only difference is that at the Joyful Food Market, everything is free. Families are allotted specific portions of each item, and they can walk through the aisles themselves to select what they want. Children are allowed to do the shopping too; some parents can’t get to the market after school, so volunteers help the children shop for their entire families.

The Joyful Food Market approach doesn’t work in rural Arizona though, partly because so many of the children live at school rather than at home.

So Children Incorporated volunteers are taking a different approach there.

Out West

The Navajo Nation consists of 25,000 square miles of land, but no real cities. Flagstaff, Page, Albuquerque, Farmington, and Durango are all well outside of the Navajo Nation, and each requires a long drive across bad roads in order to get there.

Inside the Navajo Nation, Children Incorporated works in several schools, helping provide students and their families with clothes, shoes, hygiene items, and school supplies – plus, of course, healthy food.

Kube visited the Navajo Nation schools last October with Shelley Oxenham, Children Incorporated’s U.S. Project Specialist. Together, they discussed with volunteer coordinators the different needs and programs at each school.

“Gardens need to be built with a wind break; otherwise, the plants often cannot survive,” Oxenham said. “They’re working out how to do this and how to fund it.”

What the schools have in common is that most of their students are poor. Many don’t live with their parents, because their parents aren’t in the picture at all, or because their parents have taken work in remote locations. Children live with other relatives or at school; and while most aren’t starving, they suffer from food insecurity, poor nutrition, and a lack of money for basic necessities.

Gardens in the Desert

Teachers and volunteer coordinators at the Navajo schools focus on academics, as well as on life skills and health. To meet their goals, several schools have implemented gardening programs.

The Saint Michael’s Association for Special Education provides education and care for children who are mentally or physically disabled. The school has built a handicap-accessible garden with paths and plant beds built for easy access by students in wheelchairs.

The idea, Kube said, is to add nutritious food to the children’s diets whenever possible, and also to give the children hands-on experience working in the garden and helping to make plants grow. The children raise houseplants and flowers in addition to vegetables, which the cafeteria staff prepares for student meals.

A greenhouse where students learn to grow vegetables and fruits

There aren’t a lot of crops that grow well in the desert, but corn, beans, and squash – collectively referred to as the “three sisters” – do well, and when planted together, help one another to grow. They are at the center of Native American cooking traditions, and are grown in school programs and at home by the children’s families.

Pinon Community School is another Navajo school served by Children Incorporated. George Tso, the residential hall manager at the school, helps the students perpetuate their cultural heritage by working with local elders to teach them traditional Navajo skills, such as weaving, butchering meat, and building sweat lodges.

And, of course, raising crops.

“They’re growing corn, cilantro, habanero peppers, strawberries, squash, and tomatoes,” said Oxenham. “They also have two beehives set up with bees to pollinate the plants.”

Challenged by geography

Rocky Ridge Boarding School is one of the most rural in the area, accessible only by dirt roads on the border between the Navajo and Hopi Nations. Most of the students at Rocky Ridge are day students, but some stay at school all week. (Many of the Navajo schools have boarding options, generally because families live too far away, and the dirt roads become nearly impassable during the rainy season.)

Rocky Ridge is trying to implement a garden plan that children can replicate at home. Instead of building a large greenhouse or a huge school-wide garden, school administrators envision little garden plots that are easy for children to build themselves. That way, Oxenham said, they can build their own gardens at home using the skills they learn at school.

But there’s a hitch. Many Navajo families have no running water, and some have no electricity – so otherwise simple tasks become difficult.

It’s all part of a greater effort to get nutritious food, rather than just any food, to the nation’s poorest children.

“Many families haul water, so there is a lack of excess water to be used for things like gardens, which, in such a dry climate, would require a lot of water,” she said.

Then there’s the wind.

“Gardens need to be built with a windbreak; otherwise, the plants often cannot survive,” Oxenham said. “They’re working out how to do this and how to fund it.”

Healthy Eating for Life

It’s all part of a greater effort to get nutritious food, rather than just any food, to the nation’s poorest children.

“The matter of adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to people’s diets has come to the forefront,” Kube said. “Interest is growing amongst the coordinators, and it’s an area we have identified as one for current and future Hope in Action Fund proposals.”

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