How to help two back-to-school supply drives in Tucson

The Chiefs Kingdom-Tucson will hold a Back-to-School Supply Drive to Benefit More Than A Bed from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, July 24 at the Station Pub and Grill, 8235 N. Silverbell Road.

“There are lots of families out there caring for these kids that can’t afford basics and they rely on More Than A Bed for things like clothes, shoes, food, beds, baby equipment and school supplies. The more we can do to help bring relief and take stress off these families, the more we will do if we can,” said Jose Monreal, 43, founder of Chiefs Kingdom-Tucson. A long-time Joe Montana fan, Montreal began supporting the Chiefs decades ago when Montana transferred from the San Francisco 49ers.

The native Tucsonan and Sunnyside High School grad decided to combine his enthusiasm for football with philanthropy in 2020, two years after creating Chiefs Kingdom-Tucson with a handful of friends. The group has grown to a core membership of 20 to 40, which swells to nearly 100 during the NFL playoffs. The members advocate for Casa Maria Soup Kitchen and More Than A Bed, which is on a mission to provide essential needs and resources to foster, kinship and adoptive families as well as children in congregate care settings and teens transitioning to adulthood from foster care. The nonprofit also facilitates connections between families within the foster care community.

“More Than A Bed gave us a walk-through of their facility and I said, ‘Please let me help you with anything you need’ ... anything to support the kids,” said Monreal, who credits his background for inspiring him to give back to local kids.

“I didn’t have a very luxurious childhood, and my parents took me to nonprofit events and those were very memorable experiences for me. As I got older, I always said that one day I would pay it forward. I was blessed to meet all these individuals in our group who follow my crazy ideas: We all have the same beliefs about coming together to do the best things possible for the community,” he said.

To date this year, More Than A Bed has served 819 families and 2,049 children.

“We are busier than ever. We had 100 new families sign up with us last month. It is everything from new families who have just been licensed for foster care and received children to families who have had children for years and never heard of us,” said Grace Stocksdale, who founded the organization in 2014.

In addition to providing resources to alleviate the financial burden on the families it serves, More Than A Bed is planning a 5,000-square-foot enrichment center that will offer arts and recreation programs for foster, kinship and adoptive children.

“I want to help build the minds and hearts of these kids. This is our next generation and we have to prepare them for the future and keep them off the streets. We are doing whatever we can to help prevent that,” Stocksdale said.

Another champion of at-risk kids is Youth On Their Own (YOTO), which expects to support the high school graduation of 1,500 homeless and near-homeless teens during the coming school year.

In 2023-2024, the Arizona Department of Education identified more than 3,200 Pima County students in kindergarten through grade 12 experiencing homelessness, said Brittany Smith, associate director of development and communications for YOTO.

“Based on national data, only about 50% of students who experience homelessness are expected to graduate high school, and youth who do not receive a diploma are 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness as an adult,” Smith said. “Our YOTO graduate rate in 2024 was 93%, so we know we are helping these kids. We hope that there will be less homeless people on the streets in five or 10 years because kids went through our program.”

YOTO provides a variety of resources for middle school and high school students, including monthly attendance-based stipends up to $350 per student; access to free basic needs items including food, hygiene products and school supplies; and guidance and emotional support. It also provides post-graduation guidance for students in the program.

YOTO also serves as an advocate for students at the federal, state and local levels.

Homeless students are often linked to YOTO resources by school liaisons supported by the McKinney-Vento Act and the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, which Smith said is threatened with elimination by current federal budget proposals. Seven school districts in Pima County receive EHCY funding including Tucson Unified, Sunnyside, Marana, Flowing Wells, Vail and Amphitheater.

Smith said eliminating those funds would impact YOTO students on multiple fronts: It would cut transportation assistance that enables students to remain at their original school regardless of housing instability; remove the ability for students to enroll in school without vital documents that may be lost or with birth parents; and abolish the jobs of school liaisons who identify and enroll students in McKinney-Vento.

“We are trying to advocate and inform people about McKinney-Vento in general, and are asking them to reach out to federal officials and representatives and try to get that dedicated funding put back in the budget. Increased barriers to attending school makes homeless youth more vulnerable to harm and exploitation. Education is the most powerful tool for escaping poverty and homelessness,” Smith said.

Those who want to support YOTO students can contribute to the Annual Back-to-School Challenge, a fundraising and donation drive that seeks to raise $75,000. Find more information online at yoto.org/backtoschool.