Listen | Discover | Engage a service of Southern Oregon University
The Jefferson Exchange

Why So Many Homeless Students

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Wikimedia

The most recent numbers show more Oregon students are homeless than a year earlier. 

737 more students, to be exact… more than the populations of most elementary schools. 

Medford's Maslow Project is an organization dedicated to fulfilling at least some of the needs of homeless young people. 

Executive Director Mary Ferrell joins us with stories of what leads to child homelessness.    

FAST FACTS:

  • latest national number of homeless students: 1,258,182
  • latest state numbers here: Oregon 18,902 / California roughly 270,000
  • Graduation rate for homeless students: 25% or below
  • Maslow Project client graduation rates: 90% Ashland, 50% Medford
     
Stay Connected
Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.