Why has Agnes been nominated?
Agnes Stevens has been nominated for her 20-year struggle for homeless children in the USA. Every year Agnes and her organisation, School on Wheels, help thousands of homeless children aged between six and 18. Hundreds of volunteers donate tens of thousands of hours as tutors for children who live in shelters, in motels, in cars or on the streets. The tutors give the homeless children security. When the kids move, School on Wheels follows them and gives them stability in an otherwise unstable existence. The children can stay in touch with School on Wheels using a toll-free phone number. Agnes and School on Wheels help children and their parents with changing schools and retrieving lost documents, like grades and birth certificates. The kids also get backpacks, school uniforms, school supplies and money for the bus or the subway. At many shelters, School on Wheels has created special learning rooms, with computers, books, and drawing and writing materials, to give the children a quiet place to study and the chance to be kids.