Summers away from school are especially challenging times for families trying to build a life in a shelter or motel room. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has about 4,800 students who don’t have stable homes. A Charlotte group offers a few of these kids a safe place to go to play and learn during the summer months.
Janette Kinard hit the road in a van to make her weekday rounds to pick up kids for the Champion Village Summer Camp.
She headed to the Salvation Army’s women and children’s shelter, just north of uptown. It’s part of a cluster of buildings that house groups supporting people who are homeless or close to it. People had set up makeshift homes nearby.
“See the tents over there? You got tents up, people sleeping on the ground, people sleeping on the benches or wherever they can sleep,” Kinard said.
This is where many of the kids staying at the shelter go out to play.
A handful of children between the ages of 6 and 13 hopped in the van and rode off — leaving a few kids milling around just outside the shelter. Kinard headed up to West Sugar Creek Road and Interstate 85 in northeast Charlotte, where her nonprofit Champion House of Care is located.
The group helps people with intellectual disabilities and families living in many of the motels around the intersection. Kinard would often see kids sitting in the motel parking lots doing nothing all summer.
“Why does a child have to suffer like this? Because I know when my kids grew up, they were able to go out and play basketball, cheerlead, and (do) everything else. And these kids don’t get that opportunity,” Kinard said.
Last summer Kinard started a camp at a church about a mile up the road to give them a safe place to go.
The area around Sugar Creek and I-85 has the highest violent crime numbers in the city’s busiest police division. Police say the motels are convenient for people using I-85 for crimes like drug smuggling.
“Either we're going to get (the kids), or the drug dealers are going to get them as they walk to McDonald’s, or maybe even someone puts a gun in their hand,” Kinard said.
Kinard stopped at the Brookwood Inn on her route. Rey Simms and three of her four children were waiting for the van. They’ve been living at the motel on and off for about two years. The camp offers the opportunity for Simms to have trusted staff keep a close eye on her 2-year-old and keep her older children safe.
“It keeps my kids off the street and stuff like that because they are interacting; they are doing something, instead of just sitting around and getting into trouble,” Simms said.
Champion Village Summer Camp is one of many groups in Charlotte that offers summer activities for children from low-income families. The camp serves 32 kids, mostly in elementary and middle school. Some of them have developmental disabilities. Another 35 kids living in the motels are on a waitlist. It’s free for families.
“It’s a big help. It is," Simms said. "She’s giving them the opportunity to interact with other kids ... teach them how to learn, write and play with other kids.” .
A few kids played Uno in a rec room at Derita Presbyterian Church with smirks on their faces. Others watched cartoons on TV. There’s a computer lab where they learn how to code and create video games. Classes to help students handle their emotions through meditation and conflict resolution are planned for the summer.
They also plan to take trips to the zoo, Discovery Place and Carowinds. The camp has 13 volunteers who support and monitor the kids throughout the day.
Most of them are teenagers like Adison Jenkins, 17. She said that despite the challenges the kids face, they remain resilient.
“These kids are so bright, and they have such vibrant personalities... They are persevering through this,” Jenkins said.
The Champion Village Summer Camp runs through the summer, providing a bridge until school starts at the end of August.
