For the Homeless, a Childhood Finally in Reach

The goal was to have a play space for homeless children living at D.C. Village and for children who were waiting while their parents went through the shelter application process. But the D.C. Village play space isn't fully used because it is needed for other uses and because of too few volunteers.

At D.C. Village there are two Bright Spaces areas, a sunny corner in each of the two television rooms. In one of the spaces, cheerily decorated with stenciled walls and a toy stove, no pots and pans or other toys were visible. The toys were locked up, Larson said. At night, the television rooms often double as an overflow area for families when there are no more beds available in the shelter. The families that slept in there had stored the cots and their personal items in the play space, which was not separated by a curtain or any other barrier.

At the shelter intake center in Southwest, director Omega Butler said the play space sometimes goes unused because the center does not have enough volunteers. Children and parents sometimes go into the play space and may throw around a ball, sit in the rocking chair, or play make-believe games in a toy kitchen, Butler said. But when a parent's name is called, the child often stops playing to accompany the parent to the appointment, especially if no other adult is present. The original goal of the play space at the center was for children to get lost in a child's game, oblivious to the intake process, while the parent handles the appointment.

"Volunteers would be good to get the full effect of that area," Butler said.

Karin Weaver, executive director of the Bright Horizons Foundation, said she had not been in contact with District officials for months and had thought that all of the play spaces were in full use. Later, after speaking with city officials, Weaver said some families had had positive and memorable experiences using the play space at D.C. Village with the help of volunteers from the Job Corps and AmeriCorps programs, which share part of the campus with the shelter.

Weaver said one of the foundation's goals in 2006 is to concentrate on sustaining play spaces already opened by the foundation to ensure they are being used regularly.

Department of Human Services Director Yvonne D. Gilchrist, who attended the Bright Spaces ribbon cutting a year ago, said she was unaware that the play space specifically designed for homeless children had been used for storage. Agency officials later said she would look into it.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, volunteers arrived at D.C. Village carrying laundry baskets of arts and crafts supplies, toys and sports equipment. A voice crackled over the shelter's announcement system. "The playtime activities is now here, going on outside."

Soon more than a dozen young boys were yelling "Over here!" as a spirited touch football game got underway. At a nearby picnic table, girls drew with colored pencils and crayons, encouraged by volunteers who praised their creations. Other volunteers helped the girls, ranging from 2-year-olds to preteens, pick out colorful beads of different shapes and sizes to create bracelets and necklaces.

For the next three hours, laughter and shrieks of joy filled the shelter courtyard. Gerri Williams watched her 5-year-old son, Anthony, blow bubbles. She joked that she had a mayor on her hands, a reference to her son's shared name with Mayor Anthony A. Williams. She arrived at the shelter in August with her eight children after staying with several friends.

Her daughter Donea, 11, was trying to convince her mother that she should be allowed to wear a short ruffled skirt she had selected from among several items of clothing that a volunteer had brought to give away. Her mother took one look and shook her head. Too short.

Donea frowned, but looked happier when talking about the volunteers. "I think it's nice for them to come and play with people who are in this situation," she said. "And they bring stuff for people to keep -- that's nice."