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OUR HOMELESS SCHOOLKIDS: 20,000 Bay Area Children Have No Home To Go To After Class, A Doug Sovern KCBS Cover Story Series

(KCBS) -- The only shelter they can call their own is their desk. They live in their family's car, or in shelters, or camped out in cold, wet tents, as they try to study, write reports, and pull themselves up. This is their multi-part story, in a Doug Sovern KCBS Cover Story series.

To donate directly to help some of the people profiled in our series, use these links:

Donate To 10-Year-Old "Rachel" And Karen

Donate To  Vicky And Her Two Kids

COMPLETE SERIES:

Bessie Carmichael School in San Francisco's SoMa. (photo credit: Doug Sovern)

PART ONE: Number Of Homeless Children In Bay Area Reaches All-Time High

Despite years of trying to end homelessness, the number of homeless children in California, and the Bay Area, is at an all-time high.

12/15/2014

(CBS)

PART TWO: 10-Year-Old Homeless San Francisco Schoolgirl Struggles To Keep Her Secret

Being a kid at school is hard enough without having to worry about where you and your family will sleep that night. So imagine juggling homework and peer pressure while living in a shelter, on the street, or in someone's spare room—but that's the reality for many children across the state.

12/16/2014

Brittney Nance helps her daughter Izabella, 7, with homework as Henry Nance, 5, and Lillie Nance, 2, play on the bed in their motel room at the Old Town Inn March 5, 2009 in West Sacramento, California. Brittney and her family were evicted from the house they were renting after her husband, Steve Nance, lost his job. The couple and their three children are living in a budget motel while they save enough money for deposit on a new rental home, but are finding it difficult as they pay nearly $1200 a month for the motel room. All five live in a small studio sized room with most of their belongings. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

PART THREE: 20,000 Homeless Bay Area Schoolchildren – How Did We Get Here?

Soaring housing costs in the Bay Area and worsening domestic violence are just part of what are driving the increase in family homelessness.

12/17/2014

Galileo High School has 140 homeless kids that the district knows about (galileoweb.org)

PART FOUR: How Bay Area School Districts Are Coping With The Growing Number Of Homeless Students

More than 20,000 Bay Area schoolchildren are learning tough life lessons beyond the classroom because they are homeless. So just how are local school districts coping with this record number of homeless students?

12/18/2014

(MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

PART FIVE: Bay Area School Districts, Local Governments Tackle Increasing Number Of Homeless Kids

More than 20,000 Bay Area schoolchildren are homeless and in California that rate is twice the national average. So what are school districts and local governments doing to address the crisis?

12/19/2014

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