But she doesn't mind.

"I get to help people. It all falls back to helping," said Glenn, who graduated from Grambling State University in Louisiana with a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in teaching.

Last month, the Gainesville City Board of Education named her coordinator of Helping to Open Possibilities through Education, or HOPE, a program geared to serving homeless school-age students.

Gainesville City Schools and the Hall County School System both operate the program.

Glenn works on referrals from the systems, which have nearly 40 schools combined.

Her job is to try to stabilize families so as to keep kids in school and on track, said Nathaniel Shelton, the city system's social worker and Glenn's supervisor.

The city system started the program in 1996-97, with Hall County joining the effort the following year.

Backing the systems is the Interagency Collaborative Team, a collection of social-service agencies, ministries and community groups.

Last year, the team counted 2,253 school-age homeless kids in Hall County.

"(The number) goes up each year," Shelton said.

The program served 280 students last year, up from 23 in the first year.

Federal law defines a homeless person as someone who lacks a permanent residence.

A qualified student might be a child staying with family in a shelter or abandoned by parents at a grandparent's home.

"I have found kids living in cars," Shelton said. "...We are launching an effort to go to hotels, trying to get them involved, to let us know when they have homeless families."

The program, which has about a $63,000 budget, gets money from the state Department of Education to help students with such needs as emergency housing, clothing, food and tutorial services, he said.

"If a family is about to become homeless, we'll pay a rent deposit to keep them in housing," Shelton said.

The program doesn't act strictly as a hand-out service, however.

The goal is to make families self-sufficient.

"I see that most parents that I work with don't have a high school education," Glenn said.

"We are encouraging them to get a (general equivalency diploma), trying to get them to think long-range.

"A lot of these parents care for and love their kids and want to better themselves. Some, however, are using the system, moving in and out of the county."

Shelton said the program has success stories.

He recalled one student, a high school senior deserted by her parents and "living with friends and whomever."

She was referred to the program because of regular school tardiness.

The program referred her to Latin American Missionary Program, a Christian-based ministry focused on youths in gangs.

"She is very smart," Shelton said. "She will probably graduate with high honors."