Today, May 7, is National Barrier Awareness Day, originally established to spotlight the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and the importance of removing obstacles to inclusion and opportunity.

As McKinney-Vento liaisons, your work is rooted in the same spirit. Every day, you identify and remove the hidden barriers that prevent students experiencing homelessness from fully participating in school. Whether it’s ensuring transportation, access to extracurriculars, or immediate enrollment, you are dismantling systems that often unintentionally exclude the very students who need support the most.

Barrier awareness is not just a one-day observance; it is the lens you bring to your work year-round. Your advocacy not only opens doors, it holds them open.

Let May 7th be a moment to recognize that what you do is part of a broader movement to create schools where every student has the chance to thrive.