Sunnybrook Children’s Home has operated as a Christian childcare organization since its founding in 1963 and is now licensed to provide care for foster children—a responsibility that includes supporting young people as they transition out of the foster system. But Executive Director Myrle Grate noticed the program was missing one essential component: driver’s education.
“You can’t get a job, especially in the South. You can’t go to the grocery store or to the doctor without a driver’s license,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on Nov 22. “About five years ago, we decided to try to change some of the statistics, so we created a driving program for our residents on our campus.”
Those statistics paint a revealing picture: An estimated 20,000 young people in transition exit the foster care system each year but less than 5% of them have a driver’s license. Grate said few who exit foster care ever receive their licenses.
He reached out to Ridgeland High School Driver’s Education instructor Eddie Easley. The pair discussed what it would take to start a driving program at the home.
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Easley was happy to assist. He taught his first group of students in the summer of 2023.
“We bounced around ideas for a while and that led to me coming in the summertime and doing a two-week course with the students at Sunnybrook,” Easley told the Mississippi Free Press on Nov. 27.
Sunnybrook is now expanding the program statewide through a $2.1 million grant from the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services. The courses are offered during the summer and other school breaks and are open to any student who is in CPS custody.
Sunnybrook Children’s Home Executive Director Myrle Grate said providing the means for young people in foster care to earn a driver’s license can be life-changing for them. Photo courtesy Myrle Grate ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Myrle-Grate_courtesy.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Myrle-Grate_courtesy.jpg?fit=780%2C780&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Myrle-Grate_courtesy.jpg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1″ alt=”A man in a casual suit” class=”wp-image-50687″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Myrle-Grate_courtesy.jpg?w=909&ssl=1 909w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Myrle-Grate_courtesy.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w,
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