The first step to fighting homelessness in your community is education. Students who do not know the reality of homelessness in their own areas will be less likely to help fight it. Gather statistics about homelessness in your community and present them to your students. Present them with newspaper articles, magazine articles or news programs that speak to homelessness and its causes. Use these resources to lead group discussions about the causes and possible solutions to homelessness.
A part of your students' education should entail volunteering for organizations in your community that help homeless people. Ask soup kitchens, homeless shelters or food banks in your area if they would be willing to allow your students to volunteer for a few hours. This real-life experience will bring home the reality of homelessness in your community. When the students return from volunteering, lead another group discussion about what they learned, what surprised them and if they have any ideas for improving the organizations where they volunteered.
Another important way your students can fight homelessness is to encourage others in your community to join their cause. Organize an event wherein you invite other students, teachers and administrators from the school to your classroom so that your students can teach them about what they learned about homelessness inside and outside the classroom. Your students can create visual presentations that detail homelessness statistics, the ways your community is trying to fight homelessness and ways the community could better tackle the problem. Encourage your students to ask their visitors what their reactions are to homelessness and how they could fight homelessness together.
Once your students have educated themselves and others, it's time to involve the people who have the most influence on fighting poverty: the government. Together or individually, have your students draft letters to your local government officials. In the letters, your students should outline what they learned about homelessness in the classroom, during their volunteer hours and when speaking with other community members. They should also suggest ways that the government could help reduce or eliminate poverty. As an extension of this exercise, invite a local government official to visit your classroom to speak about poverty in your community and ways the government is helping to reduce homelessness.