CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Homeless Empowerment Program is helping its families stock up for a new school year.

About 70 children who reside at HEP selected new backpacks and filled them with school supplies. The Back to School Bash provided families with everything from folders and notebooks to pencils and lunchboxes. The children even got to select their own items at a pop-up store full of socks and more.

“It really helps out a lot, so I’m very grateful and blessed,” said Honor Edwards, who attended with her two children. “Me and my husband lost our jobs, we lost our condo, we lost cars, we lost everything, so we were homeless for five years.”

Edwards says she’s grateful she connected with HEP and its programs, thankful her children are all set for the new school year.

“It really helps out a lot, so I’m very grateful and blessed,” said Edwards.

“We know that when kids go back to school without the supplies that they need, they’re already being set up for an educational disadvantage,” said Ashely Lowery, HEP President and CEO. “But it also sets them up for social issues and emotional issues as well, so we’re hoping just by giving them everything they need at the beginning of the year that they’ll be able to put their best food forward and start the year in a way that will set them up for success.”

A National Retail Federation survey reports families will spend about $900 sending their kids back to school.

“That’s a big number for any family and then when you start looking at low-income families and families that are living within homeless shelter systems that becomes even more of a burden,” said Lowery. “So, we’re very happy to be able to relieve that for the families that we serve through all of the partners that are donating goods and services today.”

Services from those partners included haircuts from the SalonCentric salon on campus, sports physicals from BayCare and the pop-up store featuring Odd Sox socks.