Supporter Spotlight: James Canfield

    Dr. James Canfield is a supporter of Faces without Places in a very unique capacity. He supports us through his research into the education of children experiencing homelessness. He has helped to create surveys for the children in our ZooMates and Summer Camp programs in order to evaluate the impact of their experiences in our programs. Recently, he was interviewed on camera for our Awareness Film that will premiere this Summer and provided some fascinating insights into the educational barriers faced by children experiencing homelessness. James is a wealth of knowledge on the subject of children in transition and we hope to keep learning from and with him long into the future.

     When asked to reflect on his relationship with Faces without Places, James shared the following:

"I am the primary investigator for the evaluation of Faces without Places programming, which means I help Faces without Places determine whether their programs are meeting their goals. This past summer, we were able to show that campers at the Yellow Bus Summer Camp improved their self-esteem, educational empowerment, locus of educational control, and hope. We also showed that the vast majority of campers felt good about themselves (over 90%!) and healthy after participating in the camp. Importantly, we also showed that the Yellow Bus Summer Camp significantly increased the number of life experiences for the children. These findings show that Faces without Places programming is an important factor in the lives of the children they serve and places them at the forefront in creating an evidence-based best practices program their evaluation efforts.

While I’ve lent a hand at the Yellow Bus Summer Camp several times, I am actually most proud of what I get to witness behind the scenes. The dedicated staff at Faces without Places is one of the most hard-working and compassionate group of people I have met. It has been a privilege to have been a part of helping the fantastic work this program does on a daily basis and could not be done without the fantastic work done by Ramin, Shelley, Beth, and Megan. I am very excited to see Faces without Places continue to make a difference in the lives of Cincinnati’s youth."