June 12, 2009
As
Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert V. Hess
read from a proclamation signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg
yesterday declaring June 11, 2009 as Advantage Academy Day in New
York City, program participants in the front row openly wept at the
thought of one day graduating with a college degree upon completion
of this pilot program.
Photo Gallery
The surprise decree came as Commissioner Hess and St. John’s
University Executive Vice President and COO James P. Pellow, Ed.D.,
were announcing a strategic partnership between DHS and the
University to provide more than 40 homeless and formerly homeless
individuals the chance to obtain an associate degree in the fields
of Information Technology and Business.
While
enrolled in the two-year program, students will receive free
housing and support services from DHS and academic curriculum and
life skills training from St. John’s. The Advantage Academy strives
to prepare participants for independent lives and career paths and
ultimately, to break the cycles of poverty and homelessness through
higher education.
“We think this is not only one of the boldest programs we have
embraced but one of the quickest timeframes that we’ve taken on –
in support of a vision by one of the great leaders of the City of
New York in Rob Hess,” said Dr. Pellow. “We accepted the challenge
to partner with DHS and instantly turned to our deans and faculty
to develop a program that would serve this special population.”
Advantage Academy classes began June 1, at the Manhattan campus
of St. John’s University. In New York City, the average income for
a household with an associate degree is $44,000─30 percent more
than the average incomes of households without such degrees. In
addition, households with associate degrees are more likely to be
employed in stable jobs with livable wages. Upon graduation,
participants of the program will have the knowledge and stability
needed to meet their professional goals and be financially
sound.
“I am thrilled to work with an institution like St. John’s.
There couldn’t be a finer partner in this community. They have
welcomed this idea from day one,” said Commissioner Hess. “It’s
absolutely remarkable and I don’t know of any other institution of
higher learning that could have done this any faster, could have
been more committed, and reached out and pulled this all together
with their best resources to make it happen in such a productive
way.”
In its first year of existence, the Advantage Academy
exemplifies a positive collaboration between DHS and the
University, in tandem with its Vincentian Institute for Service
(VISA). VISA provides and organizational focus for a variety of new
and ongoing St. John’s programs through which faculty and students
can work together to explore causes of and develop solutions for
poverty and social injustice throughout the world.
Many students who comprise the first group of Advantage Academy
participants are mothers and fathers, who hope to set a positive
example for their children about the importance of education.
“St. John’s University has given me a second chance. DHS has
given me a new lease on life. With both a second chance and a new
lease on life there is nothing I can’t aspire to accomplish and
achieve if I believe,” said Tamekka Major, adult participant in the
Advantage Academy program. “My son and I are grateful to DHS, St.
John’s and the Advantage Academy for being a bright light in what
is no longer the end of a dark tunnel.”
St. John’s Associate Dean and Professor James O’Keefe has been
tapped to take the lead in developing the Advantage Academy program
criteria along with Kathleen MacDonald, Dean of the College of
Professional Studies. Other key players in the initiative include
University Professor Randy Ortiz, who serves as Director of
Advantage Academy and Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., Executive Director
of VISA and Vice President for Student Affairs at St. John’s
University.
“This program represents just one way in which St. John’s is
responding to the Mayor’s call for all New Yorkers to embrace
service and increase civic engagement to create a standard for how
cities can tap the power of their people to tackle our most
pressing challenges,” added Dr. Pellow.