Helping a homeless child avoid the Huck Finn label

SALT LAKE CITY — It's the first of August so technically it's legal to again use the S word:

School.

Like it or not, it's right around the corner.

That means shopping for school clothes, like it or not, started yesterday, if not sooner, and since there's no delicate way to put this I'm just going to say it straight:

There are about 100 kids who could sure use our help.

Otherwise they're going to be branded with the H word:

Homeless.

These kids are currently housed with their parents at the Road Home shelter in west Salt Lake. They are there through no fault of their own, and often through no fault of their parents, either, other than crummy luck, bad timing and a recession bordering on a depression.

The down economy is funneling families into homeless shelters faster than ever. The Road Home has seen a 48 percent increase in homeless families over the last two years.

"Typically, we'll have about 50 school-age kids and this year we're pushing closer to 100," says Celeste Eggert, director of development and community relations at the facility. "We have more homeless families than anytime in our history, going back to 1988 when we first opened our doors.

"We're seeing a lot of families that have never been homeless before and never expected to be," Celeste continues. "But they lose their job, their hours get cut back, somebody gets sick, or something else happens. In years past they could turn to family and friends for support, but now their family and friends are tapped out too."

The 31 rooms the Road Home reserves for families have been full all summer. There are currently another 16 families living in the hallways or lobbies or in auxiliary crisis shelter housing that is normally used only in winter.

"The good news is we're not turning any families away," says Celeste.

But anyway, back to the school clothes.

When the kids from the shelter report to school in the next three or four weeks, either they show up in new gear with the proper supplies in the requisite backpack or they'll stick out like Huckleberry Finn.

And as much as their parents want to help, they can't.

But others can.