Atlanta parents navigate homelessness during pandemic with two young daughters

ATLANTA — The last six months have been filled with anxiety and uncertainty for Eric Clark. A husband and father of two, Clark and his family are living in a College Park motel. He and his wife started struggling with serious health conditions, forcing them to stop working and apply for food stamps so they could feed their two young children.

As soon as the pandemic hit, Clark was forced to move out of his cousin’s rental property, leaving his family homeless. While daughters, Erica, 6, and Kayla, 8, attend school at Finch Elementary, Clark and his wife, Sherry, try to find ways to make enough money to pay for another night at the motel.

“It’s really, really tough,” Clark told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden during an interview outside their room Wednesday. “Me and my wife are both having health issues and we’re unable to work. Disability doesn’t cover much at all.”

For the Clarks, the daily 90-minute commute begins with a free shuttle ride from the motel to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where they catch a MARTA train to Oakland City. From there it is a mile by foot to the girls’ school.

“As a family man, I always wanted to just be there for my family,” Clark said. “I know so many people ran away from, you know, responsibility, and I love being a responsible parent.”

Since the pandemic hit, school leaders across metro Atlanta have worried about the impact on homeless students.

An open records request with APS revealed there are currently 1,200 homeless students district wide, which is a decrease from previous years.

“There’s a lot of shame and a lot of embarrassment,” said Sana Ali, homeless education liaison for Atlanta Public Schools. “It’s difficult for them to open up about being homeless. Some families are facing homelessness for the very first time and it’s traumatic.”

Ali added that the number of homeless students has been under reported over the last two years because foreclosures, evictions and virtual learning have made it nearly impossible to get an exact head count.

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APS provides resources and services to students through federal and state grants, she said. They also rely on community partners, such as motels and ride-share companies, to help remove barriers between homeless students and their education.

In 2021, the Georgia Department of Education conducted a survey with local school districts that estimated there are more than 35,000 homeless children in Georgia.

Districts like APS said it is extremely important for people to understand that there are numerous resources to help assist those in need.

If you have any questions, families can reach out to APS Homeless Liaison Sana Ali, LMSW at 404-802-2245 or via email at Sana.Ali@atlanta.k12.ga.us.

For donations to William Finch Elementary School or to donate to the Clark family, viewers can contact Tamisha Brothers-Bembry, LMSW and school social worker, at 404-802-4019 or by email at Tamisha.Brothersb@atlanta.k12.ga.us

Brothers-Bembry worked with the Clark family to set up a GoFundMe account.

Link to community resources by cluster: https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/Page/52086

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