Homeless people get training

Five years ago, Ebony Jones and her husband were just getting on their feet, living in a five-bedroom house of their own in Portsmouth, VA. Then one day Jones was involved in a car accident, which left her and her husband unable to make home payments. They eventually lost their home.
Helpless, the family came to New York City because of its reliable homeless services; four months ago they settled down in a Brooklyn shelter. It has been hard, of course, but over the past month they have found hope in Jamaica, Queens.
Jones, 30, and three of her children have been attending a free academic and life skills program at St. John’s University which ends on August 1. A first-time partnership between the university and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the four-week program is designed for parents and children from seven transitional shelters in Queens and Brooklyn.
“I’m blessed to be here,” Jones said. “You don’t stay alone and wallow in your situation. [Here] you start to have confidence that you are not alone,” she explained.
Taught by university students and professors, the program is called Career and Leadership Academy. Sixty students and 20 parents participate in it, said Dominic Scianna, assistant vice president for media relations at St. John’s University.
“We have some of the brightest folks that are real survivors,” said DHS Commissioner Robert Hess. “The number one way to ensure that [they] never need to return to shelter is to get education,” he explained.
In the academy, every day the kids receive education which focuses on saying no to drugs and alcohol, being good citizens and protecting the environment. The children, aged 7 to 12, also take biology, chemistry, computer and tennis classes.
The parents receive writing and computer training as well as instruction on jobs, personal finance, and health.
Over 32,000 people in the city spend the night in homeless shelters, according to DHS statistics.
During the past five years, 160,000 families have moved to permanent housing, but the city still has a long way to go, Hess said.
The Career and Leadership Academy is an outgrowth of the summer literacy camp held at St. John’s for the past 12 years.
The university plans to continue and expand the program, said Scianna.
Jones likes this idea. “I wish more parents will participate in this - they won’t feel ashamed,” she said.
After graduating from the academy, she intends to find housing and go to college because her dream is to run a business with her husband.