[ti:Mentors Try to Improve Lives of Homeless Children] [ar: Steve Ember] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.05]Education Report. [00:05.00]A mentor is someone who teaches [00:07.60]or advises a younger person [00:10.45]with less experience. [00:12.19]January is National Mentoring Month [00:15.87]in the United States. [00:17.47]This is a time for calling attention [00:20.45]to the value of mentoring. [00:22.84]Some mentoring programs connect adults [00:26.87]with children who need guidance. [00:29.25]Researchers say mentoring [00:32.20]can reduce drug and alcohol use [00:35.58]and violence among young people. [00:38.33]In Southern California, [00:41.06]a nonprofit group called [00:43.30]School on Wheels has volunteers [00:46.09]who tutor children [00:48.33]from homeless families. [00:50.02]Experts estimate that one [00:52.86]in every fifty children [00:55.35]in the country is homeless [00:57.29]at some time during the year. [00:59.89]They might live in shelters [01:02.32]or weekly hotels or abandoned buildings [01:06.40]or even on the streets. [01:08.65]Anywhere except a permanent home. [01:12.54]Sinead Chilton is marketing [01:15.42]consultant for School on Wheels. [01:18.17]She says she was surprised to learn [01:21.26]the extent of the problem when she [01:24.20]moved to the United States from London. [01:26.69]SINEAD CHILTON: "When I first moved here [01:27.98]ten years ago and I heard [01:29.87]about School on Wheels, [01:30.82]I didn't even consider the fact [01:32.96]that there were homeless children in America. [01:34.85]And then when I realized that [01:37.34]there was 1.6 million homeless [01:39.32]children in America, it just floored me." [01:41.72]Ms. Chilton has worked with School [01:43.91]on Wheels for more than six years. [01:46.35]She says still remembers the first [01:50.04]student she tutored. [01:51.78]She met with her every week [01:54.63]at a local church. [01:56.22]The church provided shelter [01:58.76]for people on winter nights. [02:01.00]The girl slept on the floor. [02:03.50]SINEAD CHILTON: "It just struck me [02:05.04]as just so devastating and just [02:06.13]how can you focus on school [02:07.48]and how can you even think [02:08.92]about homework when those are [02:11.21]the circumstances that you're living in." [02:12.71]A retired teacher named Agnes Stevens [02:15.71]started School on Wheels eight years ago. [02:19.09]She wanted to help homeless children [02:22.12]stay in school. [02:23.57]The group now has more than [02:26.56]one thousand volunteers. [02:28.26]Each year they tutor as many [02:31.84]as two thousand students. [02:33.48]The group also provides services [02:37.12]to other children, including [02:39.71]backpacks and school supplies. [02:41.80]Sinead Chilton says [02:44.63]School on Wheels also helps parents [02:47.72]to put their children in school [02:50.45]and advises parents [02:52.69]about the education system. [02:55.03]SINEAD CHILTON: "A lot of time [02:55.93]homeless children's families [02:58.12]are in chaos and homework [03:00.31]is the last thing that parents [03:02.50]want to be worrying about." [03:03.69]The Harvard School of Public Health [03:06.33]and the National Mentoring Project [03:08.96]launched National Mentoring Month [03:11.80]in two thousand two. [03:13.70]Ms. Chilton says she hopes more people [03:17.03]will volunteer to help children. [03:20.09]SINEAD CHILTON: "I think it's so important [03:21.32]for people that want to [03:22.97]make a difference in their community [03:24.02]to look at where the needs are. [03:27.15]And the most vulnerable members [03:29.69]of our community are homeless children." [03:32.13]And that's the VOA Special English [03:35.36]Education Report, [03:36.86]written by June Simms. [03:39.24]Have you ever been a mentor [03:41.24]or had a mentor? [03:42.74]Write about your experience [03:44.48]at 51voa.com [03:48.02]or on Facebook and Twitter [03:50.96]at VOA Learning English. [03:53.30]I'm Steve Ember.