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one, but we probably are doing a fairly
decent job,” Burriss says. “A question
I hear a lot is, ‘Well how do you know
they’re really needing this? Or how do
you know they’re honest?’ … There are
people at all socioeconomic levels who
sometimes aren’t truthful. But I think
the key piece is, do they need services?
Do they need our help? Do they qualify?
I think that sometimes, because of the
stigma, that people are hesitant to be
upfront about their situation.”
School wide, about 50 percent of
students qualify for free and reduced
lunch.
“In some schools you will see 95
percent, and some schools you will see
4 percent,” Burriss says.
Impoverished communities sometimes
surround the schools. But it is now
becoming more common for families
that have never experienced poverty or
homelessness before to be included in
the numbers.
Burriss says the community feeling
about the homeless is often one of
two things: either you got yourself
there, or how sad for you. Even
though Wilmington is a resource-rich
community, she says the resources do
not always connect well together to get
people where they need to be.
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Paul BalOChe
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The attitude toward homeless
children is friendlier than the
attitude toward homeless adults
throughout the United States.