Introduction “ You cannot talk about any forms of true mobility, economic mobility, educational mobility, lifelong learning, employment and career attainment, if you do not understand the role that housing plays. ” —WES MOORE, AUTHOR & CEO, ROBIN HOOD, GROWING UP & OUT OF POVERTY: WHY HOUSING MATTERS SYMPOSIUM, OCTOBER 14, 2020 Intersection of Housing and Education The NHP Foundation’s (NHPF) 2020 Annual Symposium, Growing Up & Out of Poverty: Why Housing Matters, brought together a range of stakeholders interested in issues of affordable housing. The conference focused on the ways that housing stability can lead to economic mobility, particularly by giving young people a solid foundation from which to learn and grow. This year, amidst the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, housing instability and its effect on children is more critical than ever. Shortly after the symposium, 60 Minutes aired a segment highlighting the impact of evictions on students’ education. The segment follows a social worker as she tries to locate students, some as young as six years old. Experts argued that evictions present a serious risk to children’s academic achievement, and about the urgent need for anti-eviction protections. In this paper, we find that the harm facing young people as a result of housing instability is not just a one-time news special: It is something that many educators see and experience in their work every day, and long before the Covid-19 pandemic. This research brings to the forefront the critical role that both the housing and education systems play in the lives of children—and the role that both educators and housing practitioners have in collaborating toward solutions. Even as both of these sectors experience unprecedented strain in the midst of a pandemic, it is all the more important to work across sectors to protect children who are most vulnerable to the disruptions caused by housing instability and eviction. Partnership between Enterprise Community Partners and The NHP Foundation In early 2020, NHPF and Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) joined forces to study educators’ perceptions about the intersection of housing and education. We recognized that current research has focused a great deal on measuring educational outcomes for children, but not on the role that educators play in addressing or managing students’ housing instability issues.
The NHP Foundation & Enterprise Community Partners | Growing Up & Out of Poverty 5
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