Help Kirstein raise money

Why HCEF: Homeless Children’s Education Fund (HCEF) provides high-quality educational supports to children, youth, and families who have experienced homelessness in Allegheny County. Whether that is mobile tutoring, emergency funds, after school programming, or an in-school mental health curriculum, HCEF is creating hope through learning for hundreds of students and families each year. As an educator, I have seen the effects housing instability has on a child’s ability to succeed in school. Check out just one example of some of the amazing services HCEF has provided to students in the area below:

Jenny is a bright and spirited 2nd grader who has been receiving mobile tutoring since the beginning of this school year. Any friend of Jenny’s can spot her in a crowd from her bouncing braids adorned with bright, colorful beads. Jenny’s mom passed away a few years ago and she was recently staying at an extended-stay motel with her dad and brother. The grief of losing her mother and instability at home caused Jenny to fall back in school. Repeating second grade, Jenny was determined to improve her reading, spelling, and grammar skills. “Jenny never wants to take brain breaks. Despite everything she’s been through, she has such an enthusiasm for learning”, states Loren Kurpiewski, HCEF Education Support Coordinator. “One of Jenny’s biggest struggles was that of the “Magic E”, how an ‘E’ at the end of a word will determine whether the vowels within the word are short or long.” Jenny began focusing on this in her tutoring sessions. Our HCEF educators noticed Jenny’s in-school teachers observed this barrier as well and started sending Jenny home with remediation packets that helped her practice these skills. With both Jenny’s in-school educators and HCEF tutors cheering her on, Jenny worked hard and reignited her love for reading. A few months later, Jenny’s father informed us that she has just received her certificate for the honor roll and reads aloud to her brother most nights. With determination, hard work, and the right cheerleaders, Jenny is starting this spring semester with fortitude and belief in her abilities.

Jenny’s story connected with me personally as an elementary educator. There are so many students like Jenny who struggle with their early literacy and mathematic skills, yet lack the opportunities to receive additional support and show academic growth. I am so grateful to work alongside HCEF, and provide these families with the support they need!

Check out HCEF's webpage here: https://homelessfund.org/

Click here to learn more about HCEF from the Steelers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqFWTcqK6bM

Why I Run: My journey with running started in middle school as an obligatory soccer conditioning requirement. At the time, running and conditioning was just a hurdle to pass in order to actually get on the soccer field and engage in my preferred hobby. After graduating from high school, I really struggled to find exercise that I actually enjoyed doing for pleasure. I had always associated running with the end goal of having more stamina on the soccer field, and it felt like a chore to go for a run “just because”. It took me a long while to reframe running in my mind in the way that I think of it now. It is a way that I can consistently show up for myself; it is an opportunity to get outside and see my beautiful city; it is essential for my mental health. I realized at some point in my running journey that being a runner is so empowering as an individual. I am the only one who can push myself to meet a certain pace or distance goal. I am the only one who can motivate myself to actually leave the apartment to move my body when I feel too tired or the outside temperature is in the teens. It’s empowering to know that there have been plenty of times when the motivation to move my body is lacking, but I still get up and do it anyways. It’s a feeling that I can apply to many other aspects in my life, and it’s why I continue to run and set goals for myself. My goal for this half marathon is to beat my time from the only other half marathon I’ve ever completed; a 2020 half marathon consisting of only myself.

Thank you so much for your consideration of contributing to my fundraising goal and helping me to achieve another goal I have associated with moving my body.