28 May Filling the Gaps: Education & Homelessness

Do you see any correlation between lack of education and homelessness? 

Keystone Mission’s current demographic averages between the ages of 29 to 65. Our older guests have their GED or high school diploma, leaving 20-30% who do not. The alarming realization is the younger individuals who walk through our doors are less likely to have those accreditations.  

Although the correlation exists, the causes of homelessness are vast in nature. Adverse life events such as exposure to violence, drug abuse, incarceration, sexual assault, etc. contribute to acquiring development delays in linguistic and cognitive skills.  

The issue becomes two-fold. Yes, helping individuals experiencing homelessness acquire their GED/high school diploma is imperative and will assist in their mental health and work habits, but we must first work through self-confidence, housing, access to running water, etc.  

How does Keystone Mission serve those who are seeking to further their education? 

We have partnerships with agencies such as EOC (Education Opportunity Center of PA), who comes in directly to our facilities. They will complete assessments with our guests, pay for their study materials, offer one-on-one help, and pay for their GED test.  

We pair this solution with our in-house workforce development program, Pathfinders. This program works similarly to a job, where guests are interviewed, scheduled, and work with staff and volunteers to accomplish a goal.   

Pathfinders works through the linguistic and cognitive behavioral barriers by giving individualized actions plans that focus on their weaknesses to establish, and work toward personal and vocational goals. Those nonverbal behaviors we typically learn as a child are either delayed or lost due to being in a constant fight or flight state.  

As we work through guests who are seeking life change. We are beginning to offer certification programs for guests interested in ServSafe, Peer to Peer, Flaggers, Certified Nursing Assistant, and more.