By Holly Ceasar
Editorial Intern

Beyond the unused hospital rooms, yellow “caution” tape and rusty health care signs, two bright spaces fill with smiling children and dedicated volunteers.

It is the Thursday edition of the Children’s Playtime Project. The baby-blue clouded ceilings and inspirational quotes on the walls help set a hopeful mood for the 267 children living at D.C. General, an aging hospital now used as one of the city’s family homeless shelters.

These children, playing games and make-believe, are a small subgroup of the 1,535 children living in homeless shelters in the District according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. A total of 1.5 million homeless children are estimated to live in the U.S. Homelessness, with its accompanying losses, traumas and transience,   can have a lasting impact on young lives. But a seemingly simple thing like playtime can have a healing effect, experts say.

Children ranging from infants to teens participate twice a week in the Children’s Playtime Project. This seven-year-old nonprofit organization, run by approximately 120 volunteers, is funded through individual donations and private foundations.

“When children first come to a shelter, [they are] traumatized, afraid to live in this institution. They leave their homes behind, their communities and their belongings,” said Jamila Larson, co-founder and executive director. “Here they feel welcome in a safe place to forget about stresses of being homeless for a little while.”

Larson considers childhood a time to be celebrated. Shelter life often creates a stressed and cramped environment for children in which an outlet for playing is not guaranteed. She believes that without playtime, kids have trouble “letting loose” and just “being children.”

Ellen Bassuk, M.D., founder and president of The National Center on Family Homelessness, sees homelessness as an experience that can result in poor mental and physical health, as well as difficulties in school.

“What we can tell, the graduation rates are low at 25 percent, and the likelihood of homeless children graduating [high school] is not good,” said Bassuk, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard. While she believes some  homeless children are resilient enough to overcome adversity,  society should provide them with appropriate services and support.

In many communities, grassroots and nonprofit organizations like the Children’s Playtime Project are impacting futures by ensuring a safe time and place for children to play, Bassuk said.

“Play is what kids do. It is their job. It helps kids develop all kinds of skills such as motor skills, socializing and negotiating. It also provides self-esteem for the children,” Bassuk said.

For Alquanita Williams, a 48-year-old mother of two and a past resident of D.C. General, the Playtime Project represented a blessing for her son and herself.

“We went through the stress of being homeless, losing everything we had, but at least this [playtime] gave my youngest son a sense of hope,” she said.

“He could be a little kid there and not wear the stigma of being homeless and breathe a sigh of relief…and it also kept me from being an angry, stressed out mom.”

She said her 11-year old son loved the Playtime Project so much that he often didn’t want to leave, and would repeatedly say, “I wish Playtime Project was everyday, not just on Tuesday and Thursday!”

Within the shelter, Williams considered the playtime her son’s temporary home; and a field trip with the group even provided him the opportunity to experience his first boat ride.

Sessions at the Playtime Project unfold in different ways depending on the night, but activities usually include free play, crafts, indoor basketball and play kitchen. Special activities have included yoga, scavenger hunts, special guest visits from a step-dancing team, a theatre troupe and even an astronaut.

Children’s Playtime Project also includes seasonal parties, clothing drives, monthly outings and a new 12+ teen program. A family portrait project established several years ago provided shelter residents with personal keepsakes. The pictures were also displayed in the lobby of the mayor’s office, helping to put a face on homelessness.

For Dayanna, a nine-year-old Playtime participant, celebrating a  “good game” of Go Fish with a high-five,  it is evident that in spite of her shy demeanor, she is determined to overcome the odds of homelessness.

“My dream has always been to go to college,” she said. “I’ve thought about it for a long time.”

Photos By Craig Hudson