Approximately 20 people gathered Monday at the Horizons for Homeless Children, a daycare center in Roxbury, to discuss the issue of homeless families in Boston, pertaining to early education and childcare.
The event was sponsored by the Committee on Healthy Women, Families, and Communities, and was hosted by Boston City Councilors Annissa Essaibi-George, Ayanna Pressley and Michelle Wu.
Headed by the panel of councilors, experts in early childcare and policy spoke at the podium regarding their view on the current issue, followed by a discussion by audience members who wished to debate the issue.
“Homelessness is certainly hard for most people to imagine,” Essaibi-George said. “Being a homeless mom or dad with children is even harder to imagine. Yet families experiencing homelessness are typically single-parent, female-headed households. That’s why childcare can go a long way to helping homeless families find stability. That’s why I’m so glad we’re here in this place tonight.”
The goals for the meeting included learning more about the challenges that homeless families face when accessing childcare, in addition to finding a solution to the issue through a series of discussions, said Essaibi-George before the event began.
Essaibi-George said though being mindful of a problem is the first step, having conversations with the public about the issue is crucial.
“So much of what we do on this council is to bring more awareness to a problem, but talking about a problem can also get us to a solution, so that’s the next critical step we need to make, and I look forward to doing that tonight.” Essaibi-George said. “Hopefully that leads us to answers that us, as elected officials of Boston, can help make happen.”
Committee Chair Pressley said tackling this issue is not only important for homeless children, but also for the councilors to prove the influence women have in government.
“We are hosting these under the umbrella of the Committee on Healthy Women, Families, and Communities which really is incredible,” Pressley said. “The committee in itself was established in 2010, and now to have these hearings happen really does speak to or confirm the impact that these women have. The issues that we work on and how we approach them changes when you have gender parity in government.”
Several people at the meeting expressed their support for the Horizons program.
Steffi Wright, 50, of Jamaica Plain, and current worker for Horizons, said children need to be given the necessary support for their development from birth, which is something Horizons prioritizes.
“It’s important for the community,” Wright said. “It’s important because I believe a kid’s development starts at birth, and if you don’t support that development, you create problems further on. For me, I got into this work to change the system, and the system starts at birth, the system doesn’t start when you’re 18 or 20.”
Renee Suchy, 54, of Hyde Park, said the issue of inexpensive shelter is of chief importance.
“I will always come out for [Horizons] because I think they do excellent work,” Suchy said. “It’s expensive to live in Boston. It’s really hard to find affordable housing, so anything that I can do to help the cause is what I’ll do.”
Ellie Dzubey, 23, of Jamaica Plain, said the issue is important, especially for those in Boston.
“I go to school at the Boston Medical Center so just walking there … you see a lot of people sitting in the street homeless, so I think it’s a very prevalent issue in Boston which is interesting because there’s such a wide gap between the rich and poor,” Dzubey said. “I care a lot about policies that affect women and children, and I just thought that this [meeting] would be a good fit.”
