and education partners can leverage their resources and skills to improve a set of agreed- upon, shared outcomes. A resource for both educators and community development practitioners pursuing cross- sector partnerships is a toolkit recently released by Enterprise and StriveTogether, called Advancing Mobility From Poverty . The report is based on lessons learned from collaborations piloted in several cities and grounded in research from the Urban Institute. The guide provides tangible direction for stakeholders in both the housing and education sectors to better understand each other and develop mutually beneficial partnerships centered on improving outcomes for students and families. \ In the midst of a national health and economic crisis, the need to support families and young people—both at home, and at school—has never been greater. This survey highlights the needs of educators to help them better support their students and students’ families. Some of these needs may be met through more training, implementation of service enriched housing, reduction of barriers to supportive services, and community trust-building. But our findings also point to opportunities for policymakers and leaders in both the community development and human services sectors to develop new partnerships and collaborate, in order to provide young people with the stability they need at home to have opportunities learn and grow in the classroom. While the results of this study provide valuable insights into the experience of educators and our understanding of housing instability, there is a need for further research to better understand interventions that can support students and educators. Our survey focused on the educator perspective, mostly those of teachers. Additional research from the perspectives of students and families would add valuable additional insight to the field, and help identify barriers that families face in accessing services and supports. Further research on the efficacy of specific programs and trainings for educators would also help with designing and targeting interventions at the school level. “ Whatever your issue is, whatever keeps you up at night, the lack of affordable housing sits somewhere at the root of that issue. If you care
about social mobility, if you care about giving kids a chance to reach their full potential, if you care about breaking the cycle of poverty, you have to care about affordable housing. ” —MATTHEW DESMOND, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY & AUTHOR, GROWING UP & OUT OF POVERTY SYMPOSIUM, OCTOBER 14, 2020
22 Growing Up & Out of Poverty | The NHP Foundation & Enterprise Community Partners
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