Austin ISD - Project HELP
Project HELP is a long-standing partner. They support students experiencing homelessness across Austin ISD, making sure housing instability doesn’t force kids out of school.
Because you can’t support a child without supporting their family.
Most of the families they serve are single mothers with young children living in cars, facing eviction, or waiting for shelter. Through protections under the McKinney-Vento Act, Project HELP ensures students can stay enrolled in the same school, even when everything else in their lives is unstable.
That consistency matters.
It keeps kids connected to teachers, friends, and a sense of normal life.
When a family reaches a breaking point, Project HELP calls us.
Most of the time, the needs are simple but critical:
food cards, clothing, toiletries, and bus passes.
The bus passes matter more than people realize. They’re what get kids back to the same school every day, even when their living situation changes.
When families are waiting for shelter, living in cars, doubled up, or on the street, we help cover short-term hotel stays so parents and children have a safe place to land.
We also prioritize unaccompanied high school students, kids navigating life on their own while trying to stay in school. Many are couch surfing or in unsafe environments.
This is the invisible side of homelessness, kids that most people never see. They don’t trust adults, and they’re often afraid that asking for help could mean being sent into foster care.
Each year, around the Christmas holiday season, Project HELP identifies about 50 of these students.
We make sure they’re seen and reminded that someone is thinking about them.