Image of the Week: College Bound Homeless Youth

by Shannon Moriarty · 2008-12-29 20:03:00 UTC
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No home? No problem. The future is bright for 19 year-old Rene Blas thanks to the shelter and assistance she is receiving from Covenant House in NYC.

Blas is bright, resilient, and eager to start college this January. She had intended to start this past fall, but her plans were derailed when her family ran into housing troubles in September. According to the New York Times:

The worst moment of the fall came when Rene Blas, 19, and her family were evicted from their Harlem apartment and had to scatter in three directions: her parents and younger brother to a family shelter in Brooklyn, her older brother and his girlfriend and infant to another family shelter, and Rene, because she was over 18, to a city women's shelter.She was ready to start college in the fall of 2008, but her father lost his job as a security guard, and the family fell behind on the rent.

"We got evicted, so I couldn't get my financial aid papers," she said. "College was going to cost $6,000 a year I don't have." The landlord would not let them back into the apartment, even to get the one folder with her family's tax returns from 2007, and her school schedule.

With Covenant House's help, she has found a job at Starbucks, and plans to begin studying nursing at Lehman College in January. Catholic Charities has used $300 from the Neediest Cases Fund to help pay for books. She plans to run track, move onto campus and continue working.

"I get excited," she said. "I can't wait to go to school."

Blas was highlighted in the New York Times' "Neediest Cases" column today, which could generate a lot of donations for the organizations that have kept Blas on her feet, allowing her to realize her dream of at.

Above, she is pictured on the roof of the youth homeless shelter where she lives. I love this picture because it's the exact opposite of what one might expect from a teenage girl who has gone through the pain of homelessness, separation from her family, and dreams deferred. She looks radiant, full of optimism and hope for a better future.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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