Jessie Gaither’s expectations weren’t very high when she connected with the Homeless Children’s Education Fund last summer.

“I had a chaotic summer last year,” said Jessie, now 16 and a rising junior at Pittsburgh Westinghouse Academy. “I thought this would be another program where you’re in there but they won’t help you.”

To her surprise, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Homeless Children’s Education Fund on Thursday awarded a total of $110,500 to 45 students who have, or are experiencing, homelessness and are graduating high school and enrolling in or continuing post-secondary education.

“They helped me out so much — with clothes, transportation, opportunities, college tours — and I even met some really amazing friends,” Gaither said. “They even gave me a chance to really express myself, and they gave me a chance to really see what I can actually push myself to.”

Students received a $2,500 cash award and a new Chromebook.

AJ Jefferson, the Homeless Children’s Education Fund’s president and CEO, said the money can be used for anything the student needs to assist with completing their education.

“Most students, when they transition into postsecondary education, have adult supporters. Our students may not,” Jefferson said. “On top of that, they may not have the resources that are needed in order to successfully move to postsecondary education.”

During the 2023-24 school year, more than 3,600 children in Allegheny County experienced homelessness, the foundation reports. Nationally, one in 30 children ages 13 to 17 experience homelessness over the course of a year.

“We walk alongside our students through the good, the bad, the ups and the downs over the years,” Jefferson said. “We know every student in this room. We have been working with them for years to get them to this place, and we are excited.”

When a child has an unplanned move, their education can regress by about six months, Jefferson said. Curriculum gaps between schools, and students’ stress and adjustment, can contribute to the regression.

“Every time a child has to move immediately, it interrupts their continuity in school,” she said. “Our students are moving two to three times per school year, so that could be almost 18 months of regression in school. Our instructors mobilize to wherever students are, and we help them fill that gap. We’re a bridge for that family to get that child back into school consistently.”

Jefferson’s organization also offers social workers to provide emergency resources to children and their families. Many don’t understand what homelessness is, Jefferson said. She defined homelessness as a person without a fixed, regular or adequate nighttime residence.

“You can’t necessarily look at a child and decide that they’re homeless,” she said. “You have to dig a little bit deeper.”

Xavier Littlejohn, 22, spent some of his early years in the child welfare system. He got connected with the Homeless Children’s Education Fund in 2022, during his senior year at Obama Academy in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Littlejohn had the grades, but college seemed unattainable: A study by The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research found that more than 80% of 17- and 18-year-olds in the Pennsylvania foster system say they want to attend college but only about 3% do.

This year, Littlejohn obtained his bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.

On Thursday, Littlejohn was awarded the Joseph Lagana Perseverance Award, a $500 prize for successfully graduating from a postsecondary education or career training program. Lagana, a longtime educator in the region, founded the Homeless Children’s Education Fund in 1999.

“One of the biggest skills I’ve learned was advocacy and public speaking,” Littlejohn said. “I was never really a public speaker before, and that’s something I often struggled with. But as I did public speaking engagements for them, I learned to come out of my shell.”

Littlejohn said he has done advocacy work for the organization.

“It is our goal to get a majority of our students to where he is,” Jefferson said. “He chose the four-year university route, but that doesn’t mean that we need all of them to go to university or college. It means we want them to continue their learning.”

Littlejohn now works for Allegheny County’s Office of Children, Youth and Families. This fall, he plans to attend the Community College of Allegheny County and earn a certificate in supervision and leadership.

“I plan on using that to progress my way up the ladder so I can make more change,” he said. “I want to eventually get to a director role because I want to change the outlook for foster kids going through the system. Whether you’re 16, 10, 8, I want to change their life trajectory and make a positive impact.”

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Gaither, the Westinghouse student, said her time with the Homeless Children’s Education Fund helped her with writing and confidence.

She is considering pursuing a career in acting, law or real estate.

“When I get out of school,” she said, “I want to make enough money, and I want to donate to this program.”