In High School and Homeless

By Robin Respaut on Monday, April 20, 2009.

The word homelessness typically conjures the image of a man or woman living on the street, perhaps pushing a shopping cart or sitting on a heating grate.

Say the word homeless and people don’t think about a motel in Windham, New Hampshire that rents rooms to families who can’t find a home.

The Nutfield News’s Robin Respaut has the story.

Sound of morning…

A handful of kids are standing at the end of a parking lot at the Windham Manor Motel.

It’s seven in the morning, and they are waiting for a school bus.

A minivan-bus takes three boys to Derry.

Then, a school bus from Salem collects two high school students.

Finally, three middle schoolers climb onto a bus from Windham.

Sound of school bus closing doors and driving…

All those kids live at the motel with their families.

P 0.20 We’ve been here for over a year and there’s a lot of people who have been here for over a year or two years 0.25

That’s Patty.

She’s living in a motel room with her fifteen-year-old twins, a one-month-old baby, her boyfriend and a dog.

She says they were evicted from their apartment in Salem, in February, a year ago, and her boyfriend lost his job two months ago.

1.20 We don’t go to agencies anymore because they are so overwhelmed that there is only so much that people can do. So, we just cut back, go without, and sometimes we don’t eat or whatever; we make sure the kids do, but we have to go without 1.34

Since moving into the motel, life hasn’t been easy on Patty’s children.

Her daughter, Demi, a freshman at Salem High School still boasts straight As in honors classes.

But Demi’s not happy here.

She has to share a pull-out couch with her twin brother.

D 0.16 It’s not fun at all. It’s really crammed and small, so it’s not the best living conditions 0.24
…. when somebody wants to take some time for themselves, they really can’t. That’s one of major issues, because being so close together just causes a lot of stress and everyone gets mad at each other. 1.12

For decades, the Manor Motel has been home to families who can’t afford anyplace else.

The rooms range in size from about 10 by 15 to more than twice that.

The owner, Dick Messina (Miss-E-nah) said for some of his guests, his motel is an alternative to living on the streets.

O1 6.40 We’ve got some lower income people that are struggling, I think for one thing. I think they can’t afford a security deposit; they can’t afford utilities because they are so costly now; the rents are horrible, and they find they can come here cheaper. They may be smaller, but everything is here. 7

Prices at the Windham Manor Motel are fixed, and not cheaply, despite what Messina claims.

Guests pay between 235 and 300 dollars a week for a room.

That works out to between 940 and 1200 dollars a month.

On the plus side though, the price includes heat, electricity, hot water and satellite television, and you can pay weekly.

Sound of morning…

A mother named “Jane” waits in her car at the motel’s school bus stop.

She has lived here for two-and-a-half years with her daughter, who is now in middle school in Salem.

Sharing a bed with your mother and cooking only with a microwave are tough on a 12-year-old.

Jane said her daughter isn’t doing well in school, and she blames herself.

J 5.29 She’s having a real hard time, because she sees the stress that I go through; you know, being out of work, I’ve worked all my life…is not me, you know, so it’s difficult…but you survive; it’s scary because you don’t know what’s going to happen around the corner 6.14

Jane said she was recently diagnosed with emphysema and had to leave her job at Wendy’s because of the grease fumes.

To her the motel feels more like a jail than a haven.

2.05 It’s like, once you get in, you can’t get out of here. That’s what it seems like…and it’s depressing. 2.21

Living on a welfare check, Jane sees a job and an apartment as her ultimate goal for her and her daughter.

Right now, though, that goal seems a long way off.

1.36 Trying to find an apartment, then you got to come up with a security deposit, first month rent, you know…It’s just really tough. 1.50.

Until she does, that 10 x 15 foot room is home for her and her daughter.

Fortunately federal law mandates that school districts keep homeless children in their original schools, even if they’re living beyond the town line.

Edith Soley is the assistant superintendent of the Salem School District.

0.40 That student…still has the right to remain in that school, so that’s a safe place. That’s often the consistent place for students. 0.50

When everything else in a child’s world has been turned upside down, at least they can still go to the same classroom everyday with the same teacher and the same classmates.

Even sit in the same seat.

That security is supposed to offer the students peace of mind….when other parts of their lives are not so certain.

D 1.52 Robin: Do people know that you live here?
Demi: Um, a lot of people do, and I don’t really mind it ‘cause I’m not really going to be living here forever, and it’s just temporary so I don’t care what some people think. 2.04

Within a few minutes, Demi is on the school bus headed off for high school, just like any other teenager.

For NHPR News, I’m Robin Respaut.