Through School on Wheels, hundreds of volunteers donate tens of thousands of hours as tutors for children who live in shelters, in motels, in cars or on the streets. The tutors give homeless children security. When the kids move, School on Wheels follows them and gives them stability in an otherwise unstable existence. Agnes was honored by the World’s Children’s Prize in 2008 for her tireless struggle for children who are homeless in the USA. Sadly, she passed away in 2015, but School on Wheels continues and honors her legacy.

The idea

Agnes original idea was that School on Wheels would help children and their parents with changing schools and retrieving lost documents, like grades and birth certificates. The children can stay in touch with School on Wheels using a toll-free phone number. The kids also get backpacks, school uniforms, school supplies and money for the bus or the subway. At many shelters, School on Wheels has created special learning rooms, with computers, books, and drawing and writing materials, to give the children a quiet place to study and the chance to be kids.

Learn more about Agnes and School on Wheels in the Globe magazine from 2008:

Text: Carmilla Floyd, Photos: Kim Naylor

The stories about Agnes and the children were written in 2008. Some parts have been updated, for example with facts and figures to reflect the state of children who are homeless in the US today.