Help homeless youth succeed

Jim Allen’s article, “Homeless But Not Helpless” (Spokesman-Review, June 3), illuminated a problem that is unseen by most of us: the dire straits of homeless Spokane high school students struggling to cope with life and make it to graduation. And yet, Rogers High School Principal Lori Wyborney is quoted saying, “It’s remarkable to watch them succeed against such horrible odds.”

While these students provide their motivation to succeed, they are thankfully helped by an in-school support system of counselors whose efforts are also described. However, the article only briefly mentions Priority Spokane, and it also plays a key role in this support network.

They are a local nonprofit organization whose current focus and priority is “to help stabilize the lives of homeless and at-risk of becoming homeless children … and their families in Spokane County. By stabilizing these students now, we can prevent significant trauma to the student and to their communities in the future.”

If the article moves you to want to do something too, please visit their website, www.priorityspokane.org and consider making a donation to help these kids “succeed against such horrible odds.” They deserve it.

Bob Strong

Spokane