On today's show, publicist Fred Zermeno joins Adrian Paul and Ethan Dettenmaier in their secret bunker at Universal Studios.  Bev brings us an interview with Sandy Holiday, the Executive Director of Atlanta Children's Shelter, an organization impacting the lives of homeless children and their families for 30 years.  Later in the show, Bruce Gale talks with this week's Kid Hero, Delaney Reynolds.

Counting the number of homeless children in America is difficult and data is limited.  According to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth over 1.3 million children under the age of six are estimated to experience homelessness in the United States.  This represents one in eighteen children under the age of six.

Homelessness during infancy and toddlerhood has been linked to later child welfare involvement and early school failure. These kids are 4 times more likely to witness violent behavior than a child from a middle-class family.

Today we’re visiting a charity in Atlanta, Georgia that is working to change the outcomes for these children. Every morning 13,000 people wake up in Atlanta with no place to call home - 2,500 of these are children.  The average age of a homeless person in Atlanta is 9 years old.

Founded in 1986, the Atlanta Children’s Shelter provides free, quality day care, emotional support, an educational curriculum for homeless children, and focused social services for their families. @AtlantaChildrensShelter

They are dedicated to helping families overcome the issues that contribute to homelessness, including domestic violence and job loss.  The Atlanta Children’s Shelter focuses on the long-term self-sufficiency of the family – which sets them apart from other Atlanta homeless shelters. All services are free of charge in return for the family’s commitment to self-sufficiency as well as their commitment of time and energy.

Their Early Childhood Education Program is built on the Creative Curriculum© which stresses the importance of learning through direct hands-on interaction. Through the Creative Curriculum© children are provided with the opportunity to learn about the world around them through hands-on activities which require active thinking and experimenting to discover how things work.  The Atlanta Children’s Shelter provides a total family service model exclusively to homeless families with young children under the age of 5. 

Bev had the opportunity to tour the facility and sit down with Sandy Holiday, Executive Director.

Delaney Reynolds has been called 'one of the leading voices for the environment for her generation' by Philippe Cousteau, an 'Eco Warrior' by David Smith, and an 'incredibly valuable force of nature' by Caroline Lewis of the CLEO Institute.

Delaney is a Marine Biology student at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science in Miami, Florida.  She is the Founder & CEO of an NGO, The Sink or Swim Project, an educational and political advocacy organization focused on a variety of environmental topics including climate change and sea level rise.

She is also the author and illustrator of 3 children's books, as well as a comic book on ecology topics and is completing a new book on the impact of climate change and sea level rise in South Florida.  Delaney has received numerous awards.

Bruce Gale brings us an interview with Delaney to talk about her amazing work with her nonprofit.