Assisting With School Expenses: Voice Of The Township
It’s back-to-school time again, and the students at Fort Wayne Community Schools will be starting on Thursday, August 8th. It’s a time of transition for all families with school-aged children; while some children may wish for an endless summer vacation, there are others who actually look forward to the start of a new school year, like getting back to some structured time to learn new things, meeting new friends, spending time with kids they only get to see at school and, of course, there’s the shopping!
It’s an exciting time, but for many families the extra spending needed from their budgets for the children to go to school presents a financial hardship—not only for the academic costs, but the food, clothing and supplies. Here at the township, we see that struggle and try to help with it.
When parents in a household are already struggling financially, spending money on books, clothes and other needed school items often means that other expenses get behind. That’s when clients come to us seeking help. After reviewing a family’s income and expenditures we often find that they are eligible for township assistance, like help with a utility bill or a rent payment. When we can help with those needs, we are making sure that the children in the household don’t suffer so much due to their parents’ financial setbacks.
Food is another area where families with kids going back to school undergo a change. During the summer there are several programs around town that provide meals for children who, during the school year, qualify for free or reduced lunches. These programs are a godsend but many of them end before school is back in session. We see this as the demand on our food pantry often picks up considerably then, especially in the week before school starts. Fortunately, we are there to help people keep their children fed during that gap in time.
School clothes are another necessity we help with here at the township. Our Clothing Emporium, run by executive secretary Patsy Brewer, is a store of donated items that are sometimes new and sometimes gently-used. It offers children’s clothes in all sizes, and the store often has school uniform items like polo shirts, khakis and navy skirts and pants.
School supplies are another line item in the family budget, and Wayne Township has for several years been stocking a school supply ‘store’ for our clients. This year, staff members Jennifer Welsh, Shatayah Conner, Timothy Jones and Dorothy Tinker all worked on this project. They shopped, organized and loaded up backpacks with the required items for children to start the school year. This year, Walmart at Southtown Crossing donated many of the items the schools put on their lists for children to bring back to school such as cleaning supplies, earbuds, hand sanitizers and tissues.
In our July column we introduced this year’s winners of the Richard A. Stevenson, Sr. Scholarships and the Academic Encouragement Awards that the township is awarding at the August 3rd Family Fun Day celebration. These scholarships, the money for which was raised without using taxpayer dollars, helped three RASSS graduating students with educational expenses like book bills, dormitory items and other college necessities and provided thirteen younger AEA scholars with new Amazon Fire Tablets.
Our former trustee, Rick Stevenson believed that education is most important in the fight against poverty, and Trustee Austin Knox and the rest of the staff here at the Wayne Township Trustee Office agree. We take the challenges faced by struggling families seriously, and we are ready and eager for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. We hope it’s a positive and exciting time for you & your children as well.
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