The HOME SAFE documentary series was created by SkyWorks Charitable Foundation to draw attention to homeless families in Canada. Many of the children who file into Canadian classrooms each morning are coming from shelters, others from insecure housing. Many are hungry. Young people whose families are living paycheque to paycheque are frequently demoralized by financial pressures at home. It’s harder for them to learn and thrive in school. Most conceal their problems from teachers and peers. HOME SAFE allows us to hear the voices of these kids and their parents, the questions they ask of us, and the solutions they propose.
Developed and tested with educators, the HOME SAFE Education Resource is a DVD compilation of selected stories from the HOME SAFE series that can be used with students in many subject areas at many levels: elementary (Grade 5 and up), junior and senior high school. The material is also richly suited for teacher development and training, and for early childhood educators, child and youth workers, social workers, guidance counselors, support workers in schools, administrators, policy makers, and others in the educational sector.

The children, youth, and families we meet in this collection come from diverse backgrounds. All of them have struggled with economic insecurity and lack of access to affordable housing. Youth and parents speak candidly about their experiences of homelessness, food insecurity, job insecurity, their worries about the future, and the supports that are needed for families living with poverty and inadequate housing. HOME SAFE challenges stereotypes about homelessness, shows the strengths of families and kids living with poverty, and asks us to think about the larger economic and social reasons why more and more families are struggling to afford necessities like shelter and food.

The 16 documentary excerpts included on DVD are accompanied by an Educators Guide (PDF file on CD) which offers themes, quotes, and questions for discussion for each excerpt. Included in the tool kit are Lesson Plans (developed by the Ontario Family Studies Leadership Council), a thematic index, a list of books on homelessness for students, and links to further educational resources on the internet. Copies of these HOME SAFE support materials may also be downloaded for free from our web site: www.skyworksfoundation.org