More and more Wyoming students are experiencing homelessness.

In light of this, Governor Matt Mead signed a proclamation Monday morning declaring November 2015 as Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month in Wyoming.

"We've had a 40% increase just between the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years, whereas nationwide there's only been an 8% increase in family homelessness," said Kenya Haynes, State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth at the Wyoming Department of Education.

Haynes says homelessness is not just an urban issue.

"I get calls from all over the state about families or students who are experiencing homelessness," said Haynes. "Casper and Cheyenne, obviously, are kind of areas where people think of it, but I get calls from Meeteetse, Ten Sleep, Yoder and other smaller communities as well."

Haynes says a student who experiences homelessness is 87% more likely to drop out of high school, so it's very important to help them find stable housing.

"Last week, I was actually at a conference and one of the keynote speakers was homeless as a youth. He said once he finally was put in a group home and he knew where he was going to sleep that night it freed up all of that energy for his schoolwork and he now works for NASA," said Haynes. "Even though there's nothing that guarantees anybody a safe place to sleep, we do guarantee a child a spot in a classroom. So schools are really important to this fight against family homelessness."

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