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School on Wheels of Massachusetts is a non-profit organization that helps break the cycle of poverty one child at a time by providing academic support services for children experiencing homelessness.

History
Cheryl Opper from Easton Massachusetts founded School on Wheels of Massachusetts in the spring of 2004. She was inspired by a story she read in Family Circle magazine about a retired school teacher, Agnes Stevens, who began a tutoring program in California for homeless children in 1993.

Stevens, the original founder of School on Wheels, saw children on the streets of Los Angeles and Santa Monica during school hours and asked herself why. She decided to make it her mission to help shrink the gap in education for homeless children by starting School on Wheels in Southern California. Stevens started her program with two tutors in Santa Monica. Today, she has over 300 tutors and helps approximately 3,000 homeless children each year. Indianapolis, Indiana started a School on Wheels program in 2001. The Massachusetts effort is the third program in the United States.

Currently School on Wheels provides one-on-one tutoring for school age children at The David Jon Louison Family Center in Brockton, The Evelyn House in Stoughton, The Conway House in Middleboro, Family Life Transition Center in Brockton and The Inn Transition and The Inn Between in Peabody.
  • Nationwide, there are more than 1 million homeless children.
  • The average age of a homeless person in Massachusetts is 8 years old.
  • Approximately 10,500 families per year become homeless in Massachusetts.
  • Families remain in shelters for an average of 6 months before finding permanent housing.
© 2007 School on Wheels of Massachusetts, Inc. All rights reserved.
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