Housing Families works every year to prepare the 230 students and families in the agency’s programs for back-to-school, but the 2021 Backpack Drive was bigger than ever before. As the communities surrounding Housing Families continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, extending support to the community at large for back-to-school shopping was more urgent than ever before.
With new collaborations with the City of Malden and La Colaborativa in Chelsea, Housing Families expanded back-to-school efforts to reach families outside of agency programming, distributing a grand total of 598 backpacks to families in Malden, Chelsea, Medford, Everett, Revere, and Melrose. After a difficult school year in 2020, a fresh start with a fully packed backpack is invaluable for low-income, homeless, and formerly homeless students returning to the classroom.
To check out the photo story in the Malden Advocate about our backpack distribution events with the City of Malden, follow the link here.