The Jan. 22 flood sent three feet of water, mud and trash sweeping through the entire Southcrest home where Brittany LeMoine lives with her mother, teenage son and middle-school daughter. Since then, they've had to throw away couches, beds, dressers, socks, underwear and all the children's shoes. Their home has sat for weeks without restoration and growing mold, LeMoine said, due to insurance delays.
Instead, they are doubled up in other people's homes, staying in motels or sleeping in their families' cars, educators said. Schools are a crucial but often overlooked part of addressing homelessness, Terry said. They serve as not just education centers but resource hubs that can provide food, clothes, school transportation, medical services and mental health counseling for students.