Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, launched a new initiative to offer help and hope to the growing number of young U.S. children experiencing homelessness.
The initiative engages children and families with Lily, a seven-year-old Muppet whose family is staying with friends on Sesame Street after losing their home. Sesame Street features Lily in new videos, storybooks, and interactive activities for families with children ages 2 to 6, in addition to materials for the professionals who serve them, such as teachers, social workers, and healthcare providers. Sesame launched the initiative, part of its Sesame Street in Communities program, to help mitigate the impact of the trauma and stigma that result from homelessness.
More than 2.5 million children experience homelessness nationwide, and nearly half of those children (1.2 million) are under the age of six. According to the Office of Head Start, there has been a 100 percent increase in enrollment of homeless children in Head Start and Early Head Start programs over the past decade, with 2016-17 marking a record number.
Through its new initiative, Sesame offers a variety of free, bilingual materials specifically developed to help children experiencing homelessness, which often involves an ongoing cycle of physical, emotional, and psychological distress. They created the resources in partnership with national experts on family homelessness and tested the material with providers and parents.
Sesame Street originally introduced Lily in 2011, when her family was struggling with hunger.
By featuring Lily and her friends on Sesame Street, the resources are designed to show the experience from a child’s perspective, with Lily and her friends encouraging optimism, promoting understanding, and modeling simple coping strategies for children.
The new resources include videos like “Connect the Dots,” where Lily and Sofia play a game that helps Lily feel loved; “Rainbow Kind of Day,” where Lily, Elmo, and Sofia learn the benefits of talking about feelings and asking for help; “Ribbons of Hope,” where Lily’s family finds permanent housing and she demonstrates “survivor’s pride;” and “Home Is…” where Elmo and Rosita meet new friends who don’t have homes right now and learn about what the concept of “home” means to them.
The resources also include activities and suggestions to help parents and providers, including interactive rhyming poems, coloring pages, storybooks, and helpful answers to children’s difficult questions.
Sesame Street in Communities also hosted an interactive conversation on Dec. 13, featuring a a panel of expert providers, to raise nationwide awareness about homelessness, its effects on children, and ways providers can help.
Sesame Street in Communities aims to reach 4.5 million children under age 6 and their families; connect with more than 11,000 direct service providers; develop 200 national and local partnerships; and expand to at least 35 additional communities across the country.
