Brushing Up on the Basics

As a foster mother, Lula Mae Phillips discovered that the children she cared for lacked some of the most basic skills. They did not know how to brush their teeth or tie their shoelaces, or when to wash their hands. They had no table manners and could not sit still for any length of time.

The children, realized Ms. Phillips, a nursing instructor at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus, had come to her from shelters for the homeless. “I decided the best place to address these issues was in the shelters,” she says.

Thus was born the Long Island University Childhood Wellness Program, a series of 90-minute classes for both parents and children at the Bushwick Family Residence, a shelter run by the Salvation Army in Brooklyn.

With the help of her nursing students and faculty colleagues, Ms. Phillips teaches the children about hygiene and grooming, nutrition, safety, and social skills, including table manners and playground etiquette. Parents learn basic child-rearing skills, as well as how to cope with the stress in their lives.

Ms. Phillips makes sure that her students take their lessons to heart. “I give homework,” she says, “and I have the nerve to collect it.”

She says her next step will be to secure enough money so that she can produce training materials for volunteers, purchase hygienic supplies, and expand the program to other shelters.