America's schools are reporting that nearly 1,000,000 homeless children are enrolled in their classes this year, a stunning 41% increase over just a few years ago.

Click here to read a report by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. 

When we launched Reach And Teach one of our first areas of focus was homelessness, and we were shocked to learn that the average age of a homeless person in the United States was nine. Homeless children face very unique challenges when attending school and it is critical for teachers, administrators, social workers and medical staff to be aware of those challenges to help these children succeed in school. 

NAEHCY has incredible resources to help professionals work with homeless children including:

• An FAQ about educating homeless children 
• Training and Awareness Resources (including videos)
• Information about the McKinney-Vento Act, the primary piece of federal legislation dealing with the education of children and youth in homeless situations.

Reach And Teach has just begun distributing a new picture book about a homeless boy. The Lunch Thief is an amazing book that examines bullying and homelessness in a tender, thoughtful, and powerful way.

Rafael is hungry-because someone stole his lunch. His mom had packed his lunch bag with two burritos, a bag of corn chips, some carrots, and an apple. Once a week she tucks in a slice of her special lemon pound cake. Rafael saw Kevin, a new kid in his class, sneak his lunch bag from underneath his desk and tuck it in his backpack. But how can he do something about the theft without picking a fight? Inspired by his mother's advice to "Use your mouth before your fists," Rafael bides his time, but other kids' lunches are disappearing, too. On an errand with his mom, Rafael sees Kevin carrying a bundle of laundry into a motel room, and his mom tells him Kevin's family might be one of the families who lost their homes in the recent wildfires. Rafael rethinks his anger. The next day, instead of accusing Kevin, Rafael invites him to share his lunch, letting him know he's been caught, but offering friendship as well as a good meal.

The face of homelessness is all-too-often not recognized. Reach And Teach hopes to help change that. In the Spring of 2011 we'll be releasing Ivy - Homeless in San Francisco, by award-winning author Summer Brenner. In this update to a story published over a decade ago, Ivy and her father Popi encounter the many challenges faced by any homeless people, and along the way they encounter some wonderful friends, some mean people, wild adventures, and just a little bit of magic.

Children and adults will fall in love with Ivy and hopefully, people who love Ivy will work to end homelessness some day - while doing everything possible TODAY to ease the burden of those who are homeless in our midst. 

Would you like to help us get this book finished? We need a few wonderful people to:

• Proofread the book
• Write lesson plans for Middle School and High School readers
• Write reviews of the book that can be used for press/marketing
• Create a list of resources on homelessness in America that can be included at the end of the book and on our web site