Laura Stirewalt talks to students about homelessness at a tour of PhotoVoice at U.W. Tacoma

Use this curriculum to help educate youth about homelessness!

This is a K-12 curriculum that can be used by Sisters’ representatives in the schools, and also by educators, both as a supplement to the PhotoVoice exhibit or to use throughout the school year.  The curriculum combines existing lesson plans created by advocates around the country, with unique activities created by Sisters.  The activities, which are geared toward particular age groups, include writing, art projects and recommended reading; statistics about homelessness; information on what youth can do to end homelessness; service learning opportunities for youth; and an emphasis on dispelling stereotypes.

Curriculum Goals

• To raise student’s awareness of homelessness and poverty issues by giving them valuable information
• To inspire and involve students by educating them about what they can do to help solve the problems of poverty and homelessness
• To help teachers as they struggle to provide their students with rich, meaningful curriculums under tight budget constraints.
• To empower our homeless customers to break down myths and stereotypes and share their unique perspectives through stories and photographs

Our activities for high school and college students also incorporate Sisters’ work with the Western Regional Advocacy Project by providing critical thinking questions about WRAP’s report Without Housing.  This report is a helpful educational tool because it looks at the real root cause of homelessness – not just individual problems but the lack of affordable housing.  The report also includes artwork and graphs that bring life to the words and data.

Download Curriculum

Click here and fill out a brief form to receive the curriculum; we do this so that we may track how many people are accessing it.  Thank-you!

Your Evaluation, Please!

After you use the curriculum, please take the time to fill out a curriculum evaluation form - for the PDF version, click here; for the Word version, click here. This will help us improve the curriculum so that it is as accessible and helpful for you as possible. Send the evaluation back to us by , by faxing us at (503) 222-3028, or by mailing:

Sisters Of The Road
Attn: Devin DiBernardo
133 NW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

Questions

For questions about the curriculum, please contact Devin at (503) 222-5694 ext. 16 or To schedule the PhotoVoice exhibit or a Speakers’ Bureau member, contact Mary at (503) 222-5694 ext. 17 or

Thanks to These Groups

As mentioned, some of the activities in this curriculum are borrowed with permission from other groups who educate youth about homelessness.  Thank you to:

• Bridge Communities.
• Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless.
• National Alliance to End Homelessness.
• Solid Ground (Formerly the Fremont Public Association)

Thank-you also to Chelsea Brooks, Devin DiBernardo, and Carrie Grossman for their work on the curriculum.