About Us
Join our community in our shared mission to equip students with the tools, resources and support they need to reach their full potential in school and beyond!
Who we are
Our Mission
At Champions for Teens™, we believe that students experiencing housing instability deserve to have access to the supports they need to reach their full potential in school and beyond. We provide the training and framework for schools to safely activate community partners and caring adults in their community, remove barriers and challenge systems, and together walk by the students’ side to support them in reaching their goals.
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No one person can do it along. Let us help build capactiy for you and you school district.
Why We Exist
At Champions for Teens™ (C4T), we exist because we believe that students who experience homelessness are intrinsically valuable, that education is foundational, and that relationships are transformative. We believe that education is critical to help students cope, hope, and learn for success in the future. Schools are an opportunity for stability, relationships, and belonging. Schools are in all communities and are uniquely able to respond to students and families experiencing homelessness. A successful education enables students to earn and learn for themselves in the future and prevent recurring homelessness.
What Drives Our Mission
Nearly 1.1 million children and youth experienced homelessness in the 2020-2021 school year.
It is estimated that another 1.4 million young children under age six are experienced homelessness in 2017-18.
In addition to children who experience homelessness with their parents, at least one in thirty adolescents ages 13-17, and nearly one in ten young adults 18-24, are estimated to experience homelessness on their own.
These students are often invisible because they are typically not sleeping on the streets like unhoused adults. Earlier research shows that youth and adolescents often begin homelessness in motels, couch surfing, or staying with others while they do not have a home of their own, while sleeping on the street occurs in later stages and ages of homelessness.
They often remain invisible due to limited awareness in communities and schools and they face stigma and isolation because they are homeless.
Whether seen or unseen, the impact of homelessness is significant and a natural barrier to providing adequate mental health and SEL resources and learning supports. Not having a stable home life causes distress across almost all life domains.
These students are further traumatized because they are often living in the midst of poverty, domestic violence, mental health issues and/or family conflict, and other situations that impact their well-being.
At Champions for Teens, we are driven by our mission to move toward solutions. Every day a student is experiencing housing instability is a day we have missed the opportunity to support student success, healthy development and successful transitions to career or college, and a path out of the experience of being unhoused.
What Drives Our Mission
Nearly 1.1 million children and youth experienced homelessness in the 2020-2021 school year.
It is estimated that another 1.4 million young children under age six are experienced homelessness in 2017-18.
In addition to children who experience homelessness with their parents, at least one in thirty adolescents ages 13-17, and nearly one in ten young adults 18-24, are estimated to experience homelessness on their own.
These students are often invisible because they are typically not sleeping on the streets like unhoused adults. Earlier research shows that youth and adolescents often begin homelessness in motels, couch surfing, or staying with others while they do not have a home of their own, while sleeping on the street occurs in later stages and ages of homelessness.
They often remain invisible due to limited awareness in communities and schools and they face stigma and isolation because they are homeless.
Whether seen or unseen, the impact of homelessness is significant and a natural barrier to providing adequate mental health and SEL resources and learning supports. Not having a stable home life causes distress across almost all life domains.
These students are further traumatized because they are often living in the midst of poverty, domestic violence, mental health issues and/or family conflict, and other situations that impact their well-being.
At Champions for Teens, we are driven by our mission to move toward solutions. Every day a student is experiencing housing instability is a day we have missed the opportunity to support student success, healthy development and successful transitions to career or college, and a path out of the experience of being unhoused.
