RICHMOND, Va. — With schools closed for the holidays, many children will lose access to guaranteed meals and support systems, but one Richmond organization is stepping up to help.
Hope for Learning's goal has always been to remove at home barriers for children so they can focus on reading and learning at school.
But right now, executive director Chuck Caple says they are just trying to keep families’ heads above water.
"We have a lot of attention diverted just to try to make sure that they stay above, you know, and again, we can't do that," he noted. "If we can't make sure they're fed and everything like that, you know, there's no that's not gonna be a lot of learning."
Caple notes they are receiving more referrals than ever before due to the economy and the recent change in snap benefit requirements.
Right now, Hope for Learning is helping more than 20 families.
They just supplied Thanksgiving meals for those families, and now they are getting together food and hygiene items, as well as some toys, so the kids can experience Christmas as well.
While Hope for Learning works with schools to identify families in need of their services, Caple notes they are hearing more from people in the community reaching out for help.
"We have people to call us randomly, sometimes looking for support and help," said Caple. "So we do have members and family, people that we take care of who are not in our schools, and so I think it's going to become more prevalent for us to be going into places, because some of the schools say, you know, do you want to just go over there and take care of them, you know? Because, I mean, it's a lot, so we try to step in and fill that gap."
Caple and his team are also getting ready to launch a peer to peer mentorship program for the elementary school students they serve.
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