"Community Lodgings’ mission is to lift families from homelessness and instability to independence and self-sufficiency through Transitional Housing, Affordable Housing and our Youth Education Programs."
When most people think of Community Lodgings, they think of the transitional and affordable housing programs that help the homeless and low-income families of Alexnadria get back on their feet and move towards a brighter future. What many don't know is that Community Lodgings also provide youth education programs that prepare children for self-sufficiency as adults. These programs include after school academic support, as well as mentoring.
On Monday evenings in the neighborhood of Chirilagua, students from grades 7 through 12 meet in the two Community Lodgings offices (girls in one office, boys in another). Last Monday, AMP stopped by the boys program, in the basement of a neighborhood apartment building, where many of the students live. As the boys and mentors gathered, two students moved to tables on the edge of the room to finish tests and homework due the following day, before joining everyone else in the activities. First, the boys and mentors took turns reading from A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Next, everyone joined in to work on a puzzle.
Every week brings new activities, but the same faces to Community Lodgings. As we went to meet the mentors, we recognized them and about half the mentors from the 2015 Community Lodgings video. The boys have grown older, the mentors more experienced, but Community Lodgings remains a safe and fun place to spend a Monday evening!
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