Remote Learning for Children in Shelters

For Elishabha Eaton there was some comfort in returning to work as the Children’s Coordinator at Sarah’s Hope Family Shelter. Since her departure in 2016, Elisha finished her degree and spent time in higher education, but in her heart, Elisha felt the call to return to serving the children at Sarah’s Hope. She was excited to bring fresh ideas and new resources to minimize the impact of trauma on children.  It it didn’t take long to uncover how Covid-19 would complicate that mission.

Elisha’s role is to provide support for children at the shelter, making sure they are enrolled in school and receiving whatever services they need.  In addition, she assists parents with getting their children off to their school in the morning, leading story hours and sing-a-longs with preschoolers, and leading and organizing daily activities for all children.

Since the pandemic hit, Elisha has juggled additional demands and new challenges. In the early days of the pandemic, she measured rooms for safe social distancing, ordered PPE, and established procedures for screening and scheduling rooms for controlling density usage.

On a daily basis, Elisha juggles the complex academic remote learning needs of up to 90 children. School-age children are attending school remotely, but unfortunately there is a shortage of tablets for City school students. She also instituted a device loaner program for all children in the shelter so families can borrow a device to complete work.