ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Roanoke City Public Schools ended the school year with fewer homeless students than the previous year.
This school year finished with 589 homeless students, down from a high of 604 last year.
The school district has been working to combat this issue.
One thing it has done is create the Help the Homeless campaign. Also, Patrick Henry and William Fleming students came up with the idea to sell t-shirts to raise money and King Screen provided free printing
Most recently, the United Way partnered with RCPS for the RYSE campaign, Rehousing Youth for Success in Education. The initiative aims to house and support homeless children in the Roanoke Valley. Eighty percent of the homeless students and their families are not eligible for existing programs designed to address homelessness, so this program will fill the gap.