Editor’s Note: The following is the sixth in a series of articles investigating the homelessness issue in Randolph County.

ELKINS — When we think about the local homeless situation, we may picture adults living outdoors; however, many of us may not realize that in Randolph County, some children do not have a place to live.

One Elkins High School official said he’s often had to help students at the school who were at least temporarily without a home.

“We have had students at our school who were homeless,” Mark Rosencrance, the EHS Community in Schools site coordinator, told The Inter-Mountain. “The word homeless means a couple of different things when it comes to school children, but we have had students who were indeed homeless.”

Rosencrance said a student currently attending EHS is considered homeless after he and his grandmother fell on some hard times.

“The student and his grandmother tried to move away to another town and it didn’t go well for them, so they moved back to Elkins,” Rosencrance said. “Grandma is now waiting on a Social Security check so that they can move into an apartment. She won’t have the check until the end of the month, so the student and grandma didn’t have any money to get a place to stay.

“They were about to start sleeping in their car when a church and some other organizations helped them out and got them a hotel room. I was also able to kick in a grant that helped cover them for a few days, as well.”

Rosencrance said that, within the past couple of days, the student and his grandmother were put in touch with the ERAP (Emergency Rental Assistance Program) and will be able to find permanent housing and gain some assistance to help keep them going.

“That kid is a classic example of homeless – he was about to sleep in grandma’s car and had to stay in a hotel room for a couple weeks,” he said. “I’m glad myself and some others were able to help the two of them out.”

Rosencrance said a student was attending EHS at one point who was sleeping outdoors by himself at night.

“I had a kid last year who slept on the benches over at River Bend Park until someone stepped in and checked on him,” he said. “Given the situation he was in, it wasn’t good for him to be at his home for certain reasons.

“He was 18 and still in high school and he went from the park bench, to the homeless shelter, and then to a place where he had to pay very little to stay. Eventually he got in with a lady whose son he was friends with and he was able to stay there, where he remained until graduation,” Rosencrance said.

“After he graduated, I helped him get enrolled in the Job Corps in Kentucky… So that was that kid’s journey. He was also truly homeless for a while.”

Rosencrance said kids who are homeless often continue to attend school, partly in order to get out of the cold and to get a hot meal. 

“Many kids come to school because it’s warm, it’s heated, and because it has food, breakfast and lunch,” he said. “Some of the kids would actually come during exam days when they didn’t have to come, just so they could get warm and get something to eat. So, for many kids that are homeless, being in school is way better than what they are dealing with on the outside.”

Rosencrance said the CIS programs at schools help identify children who are homeless or need assistance.

“My job is to build relationships with the students and to see if they have a need-based challenge,” he said. “If they are having any issues at all, I will help them address it,”

Approximately 2.5 million children are homeless annually in the United States, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More than 3,000 homeless children are living on their own without guardians, and on any given night, more than 138,000 children are homeless. In 2020, there were 10,417 youth in West Virginia experiencing homelessness.