In her first week on the job, Christy Johnson headed to the domestic violence shelter in Tooele County where she found a young mother with three children.
As the new homeless liaison for the Tooele County School District, she helped the mother enroll her children in a new school in a new community.
Originally quiet and withdrawn, after attending the first day of school, the children now greet Johnson with a smile and a hug when she shows up at school to check on their progress.
Johnson’s job is to seek out homeless students and make sure they have the same opportunity for success as any other student.
She grew up in Grantsville, then traveled with her husband, who was in the military, before returning to settle down in Tooele County. She has been a P.T.A. volunteer and helped run the first-grade circus in Grantsville.
Johnson is enrolled full time in Western Governors University where she is working on a degree in special education.
“My background before this has been in business,” she said. “But I have found I really enjoy working with people.”
Based out of an office in Northlake Elementary, Johnson works with 623 homeless students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade throughout the district.
She replaced Lorie Hemsley who left the school district after six years as the homeless liaison to lead the Tooele Valley Resource Center for Valley Behavioral Health.
Johnson’s position is required by federal law. In 2002 Congress passed the McKinney-Vento Act, which, among other things, requires public schools to search out homeless students and make sure they have the same educational opportunities as other students.
“Homeless” is defined in the McKinney-Vento Act as individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.
Homeless students include children and youth who are sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship or domestic problems; children and youth who are staying in a motel or hotel due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations; children and youth who are living in an emergency or transitional shelter; and many other situations.
“I’ve worked with students living in shelters, temporarily living with friends or relatives, living in cars, camping in some of Tooele County’s outdoor spaces, or in buildings not fit for human habitation,” Johnson said.
She serves an advocate for homeless children in the school district. She meets with teachers, counselors and administrators and discusses the needs of individual students. She also works directly with students.
Homeless students, according to the federal act, are to be enrolled immediately in school in either the last school they attended or the school nearest to where they live. Normal paperwork, such as birth certificates, past school records and immunization records that homeless students may not have access to, are acquired later.
Johnson also works with homeless children and their families to help them access community programs that can help them meet their needs.
“These children, along with their families, have simple basic needs,” Johnson said. “They often need a place to shower or bathe and wash their clothes. Often the only clothes they have is what they are wearing. They need another pair of jeans, so they have something to wear while their other clothes are being washed.”
The students’ needs become Johnson’s needs. The cabinets in her office hold clothing and supplies that have been donated by the community.
However, those supplies are dwindling, she said.
Johnson is in need of hygiene kits for her families. A hygiene kit includes deodorant, toothpaste, a toothbrush, hair brush and comb, shampoo and conditioner, and body soap,
The list of needs includes blankets that are twin size or larger. Pillows and gently used or new clothing, including underwear and socks, are also needed.
As the weather cools down, homeless children will also need warm coats, gloves, hats, and shoes without holes or warm boots, according to Johnson.
People who want to donate items to help with homeless students can either drop them off at Northlake Elementary or take them to their neighborhood school and Johnson will pick them up.
“When people think about homeless people the first thing that comes to mind is that they need food,” she said. “But they need more than food. They need compassion and to know that there are people that care.”
Johnson can be reached at 435-833-1900 extension 1638.