Two boys sleep in a car and use an electric heater to keep warm, running an extension cord into their family's crowded apartment.

A girl showers at her high school rather than endure the long, cold walk to shower at a campground in winter.

A family that can't afford toilet paper resorts to using washcloths, and a boy shares his cousins' underwear.

These are real examples of how some families with children are living in Lancaster County.

Just like city schools, where social workers have helped more than 1,000 homeless children this past school year, suburban schools dealt with hundreds more who did not have a permanent place to call home.

The uncle of the boys who slept in a car in Leola said his nephews volunteered to sleep outside because their younger siblings needed the bed. There were "about 13" family members sharing a three-bedroom apartment, he said.

Outside in the 1990s Honda Accord, the boys turned on the electric heater about 30-45 minutes before they were ready to sleep, wearing sweat shirts, heavy jackets and ski caps.

"It wasn't what we wanted," the uncle said, "but we had no room in our apartment. We did the best we could."

They and plenty of others.

More than 700 suburban families in the county do not have a permanent home, though homeless does not necessarily mean living in a cardboard box in the park.

The federal McKinney-Vento Assistance Act identifies homeless children as those who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. They may be sharing a house (double-dwelling) with another family; living in a motel, trailer park, campground, shelter or car; or waiting for foster care placement.

County schools have students in all of these living situations. Not counting School District of Lancaster, there were 738 homeless students in Lancaster County schools districts this past school year, and the number has steadily increased in the last several years.

Not so 'affluent'
"It's huge," Dr. Ruth Crawford, director of student services at Hempfield School District, said about the county totals. "It is very different than 10 years ago. It's insane."

Hempfield, often considered an affluent school district, might be expected to see less impact from homelessness.

But "when 25 percent of the student body is on reduced or free lunches, I would not say we're affluent," said Crawford, noting Hempfield had 297 homeless students, the largest number in the county and second only to SDoL in 2010-11.

More than 200 of the 297 are in multiple-family dwellings, with as many as 11 to 15 people in a three-bedroom apartment or two-bedroom trailer, she said.

"Not everyone is in a big house, not with three Section 8 housing complexes," Crawford said of the district. "One out of four students meets the federal poverty limits."

She added that many families in the district are classified as "working poor," with 65 missing qualification for the free or reduced lunch programs by only $50.

Social workers at Hempfield provided assistance to more than 800 students; 25 children are living in shelters, she said. Some kids are in the custody of grandparents who live in 55-and-older communities that do not accept children, forcing the youth to sleep at shelters.

And Section 8 — an affordable housing assistance program offered by the federal government — limits the number of people living at an apartment, so parents have to split up the family.

Penn Manor had 81 homeless students, second highest among county schools. Debra Meckley, a social worker for the district, also noted the problem of families whose income is just enough to disqualify them for free or reduced lunches.

She mentioned a student who, lacking lunch money, went to the library over the lunch period rather than the cafeteria, where food smells were too tantalizing.

People do not realize this is happening in their backyards, said Greg Kiehl, director of support services at Elizabethtown Area School District. In the last two years, E-town's homeless students more than doubled, going from 16 to 33. In 2006-2008, 14 percent of the school district's population received free or reduced lunches. In 2010-11, that increased to 21 percent.

In Manheim Township, 15 students lived in shelters or motels. There were 45 homeless students, representing 24 families. Social worker Janet Dick noted, "There are clearly more students whose families are probably doubling up that we don't know about."

Warwick had 36 homeless students, with 21 percent of the student population on free or reduced lunches. A few years ago, that was 12-14 percent, a school official said.

"We always joked that Lancaster was recession-proof," Kiehl said, "but we are finally seeing it. It is happening to us right now."

Motel life in CV district
Homelessness has steadily climbed at most suburban area districts.

Conestoga Valley 63 homeless students came from 34 families. The students were in the following living situations: 34 doubled up, 20 in motels, nine in shelters. In 2005-2006, CV had 18 homeless students, in 2007-08, 35; in 2008-09, 85; and in 2009-10, 54.

One motel manager, speaking under condition of anonymity, said he rented to at least two families with children attending CV schools in 2010-11. This motel along Route 30 East offers weekly and monthly rates that are more economical than the nightly rate.

The parents worked multiple part-time jobs, often leaving the older children to watch their younger siblings, the manager said.

The manager said he felt sorry for the kids and often allowed them to use the motel computer and Internet for schoolwork.

"I watched one boy ride his bike with a laptop open on the handlebars, looking for a free Internet signal," the manager said. "That didn't seem safe to me. They had school projects, but no way to complete them. They'd stay after school, but if their parents were working, they had no way home."

Technology is an issue with homeless students. Many schools require a PowerPoint presentation as part of the senior project; many post important school information on district websites.

Students without a computer and an Internet signal run the risk of falling behind. Many school officials said they have computer rooms available, allowing students to stay after school to do schoolwork. But then transportation home becomes an issue, as the motel manager noted.

District officials said no students are penalized for not having a computer; they are given alternative assignments.

Anxiety goes to school
The only district to see a decrease in homeless students was Donegal, which went from 22 in 2009-10 to 10 at the beginning of 2010-11. That number later dropped to five, as homeless families tend to move a lot, a district official said. The five remaining students were from three families.

Three of Donegal's homeless students in 2009-10 were thrown out of their homes by their parents, Superintendent Dr. Shelly Riedel said.

"Unfortunately, that is part of the challenge for students," Riedel said. "They land with their boyfriend or girlfriend or a friend or other family. ... I don't think the public realizes how many children are in a great variety of challenging living arrangements. It is amazing how children rise above their living situations."

Kiehl, who is in his fourth year of support service at E-town, said children tend to bring their problems from home to school. "No money, dad lost his job," he said. "Students come to school with anxiety."

School social workers said consistent attendance is the biggest problem for homeless students. Children become depressed, burdened by their situation. They see their parents down, and they become discouraged, too.

The pictures on Deb Hollinger's office walls tell an interesting story, though.

Hollinger, coordinator for Homes of Hope, a transitional housing program run through Love Inc., says she can see emotional and social growth in the drawings.

One child started off with dark colors and family members depicted as separated. Later, the child's images became brighter, with a drawing of a family holding hands and an image of a house.

When children are stable and stay in the same school and home, there is significant progress, Hollinger said. She sees it in the drawings, from month to month.

"I think we forget how much kids pick up and are influenced by their environment," she said. "A child sharing a house and living on a mat in their aunt's basement — how can that not affect them?"

No situation is the same, Hollinger said, but most homeless families are the working poor or the unemployed who want to work.

They have horrible credit but no credit card debt because they can't qualify for a card. Many have of a lot of medical debt because they cannot get insurance.

"It is not a lack of desire, but a lack of resources," Hollinger said.

Contact Sunday News staff writer Eric G. Stark at estark@lnpnews.com.