By Cindy J. Roth
"She [Sonia's mother] locked me out of the house, and that was it," said Sonia, a single mother, now 36, who wished not to be identified by her last name. "My bags were out on the lawn. When she put me out, I had nothing because I wasn't working."
At the time, Sonia was recently fired from her job as an aide at Central Island Nursing Home because she hurt her hand and was unable to work. Sonia turned to a friend to take her and her two young children in. The three slept on the friend's living room floor for several months while Sonia sought help from social services, to no avail. She made too much money as a secretary to go on welfare.
"I had both sides completely hitting me that I was alone," said Sonia. "I was a mental wreck because I had a plan, and things went off track, and then it was what do I do then?"
Sonia's sister, a social worker, suggested that she contact New Ground, a non-profit agency in Hempstead that is committed to educating and empowering families who are caught in the vicious cycle of homelessness.
At first, Sonia detested the idea. "I said no because I didn't want no
handouts," she said. Sonia, however, quickly learned that New Ground was not about dishing out handouts. "New Ground was a shoulder to lean on 24-7," she said.
After a grueling interview process in which Sonia proved that she had a job, could afford to pay $600 a month for rent and was committed to rebuilding her life, New Ground accepted her into their program, which provides intensive case management and educational advocacy.
Now four years into the New Ground program, Sonia works at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset as a patient-care associate. Her children, 11 and 8, are sent to private religious school paid for by New Ground, and her recent newborn receives day-care. The agency also pays for Sonia's undergraduate education at Molloy College, where she will graduate in December 2002 with a registered nursing degree.
"I can't believe I've actually made it this far," said Sonia ecstatically. "I remember from point A to point B how well I've done for me, and New Ground has been a godsend."
Breaking new ground
New Ground formed in 1991 with the goal to decrease the recidivism rate for homelessness and to empower individuals to live on their own, free of governmental help and subsidies.
The Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless estimates that about 40,000 homeless people live on Long Island. Many people believe homelessness is not a problem on Long Island because it is not as blatant as in cities, since about three-quarters of Long Island's homeless bunk with relatives and friends, moving from one temporary fix to another.
New Ground identifies, screens and responds to families at risk by placing them in the Interfaith Nutrition Network's long-term, low-income housing program. New Ground also ensures that the family's nutritional and physical needs are met, as well as provides educational, vocational and mental-health support.
"Within three to five years of intensive services, we can turn a family's life around to never become homeless again," said Mairead Barrett, New Ground executive director. "Our families are motivated to say they don't want to live like this. I don't want my kids to live like this."
The cornerstone of New Ground's program is education. New Ground
advocates for children in the program in their schools, empowering them to achieve their full academic potential.
When accepted into the program, children are assessed for math and reading skills, and tutoring tailored to the child's individual needs is
offered. With the support of benefactors, New Ground has succeeded in removing children from low-performing school districts and placing them in high-performing private schools. Benefactors have also afforded several adults in the program the opportunity to attend college.
"We know educational empowerment has ended the vicious circle of
homelessness," said Steven Ryerson, New Ground Board of Directors president, who works as a financial planner.
During the winter holidays, benefactors can adopt families and purchase gifts off their wish lists, which usually include everyday items like vacuum cleaners or glasses.
"We want to give them memories," said Carmela Villani, New Ground
executive assistant. "We are doing something for them we take for granted."
Clients are given the means to celebrate birthdays and other holidays year-round, which helps create a positive atmosphere within the home and a sense of normalcy for the parents, which trickles down to the children.
"If parents don't have their needs met, they can't give affection to their children," said Barrett. "As parents become stable, the children become stable. They have to feel like they are part of the norm."
Unfettered support
New Ground spends about a half-million dollars on services each year.
"The Band-Aid approach doesn't work," said Ryerson. "It falls off
repeatedly. It is more important to spend money now than to keep spending year after year."
The non-profit agency relies mainly on charitable donations from
benefactors, in addition to some funding from Nassau and Eastern Suffolk BOCES and the Interfaith Nutrition Network. Because New Ground is not government-funded, Barrett said, the agency better controls its programs, including its admissions policies.
Eighteen families are now enrolled in the New Ground program. There are few slots available because the agency keeps the ratio of social workers to clients low, 1-to-8, compared to many other social-service agencies with ratios as high as 1-to-30 or 1-to-60.
New Ground's social workers are required to meet with clients at minimum two times a week and are on call 24 hours a day. Many other social-service agencies meet with clients twice monthly.
New Ground only accepts people who meet certain criteria. Clients must be homeless, have a job but earn below poverty-line wages, which vary depending on how many people are in the family, and be sober for at least a year. Most important, they must want to change their lives.
"You've got to be highly motivated to be here," said Sonia. "It's just
not a regular agency. At New Ground, they take you on individually. They work for you."
New Ground has a one-year waiting list to enter the program, mostly
because there is a tiny pool of affordable housing to place people in. New Ground officials anticipate that a family will be in the program at minimum three to five years.
"You say to yourself this is a lesson to learn and let's move on from
here," said Sonia of the program. "They have all the tools, the ammunition. Just take it and run."
As any other social-service agency, though, New Ground is continually seeking funding, including benefactors.
"Our goal for 2002 is to convene at least a dozen individuals outside the board to see how we can implement affordable housing in a non-profit, non-government agency," said Ryerson. "It's going to address a huge, massive problem."
"Everyone deserves a change," said Barrett. "We know enough people on Long Island want to be part of the solution, and New Ground has the solution."
Of all the adults now in the program, 88 percent have full-time jobs. The others are seeking full-time employment, receiving disability or attending job-training programs. Fifty-two percent of adults in the program have earned their General Educational Development Diploma (GED) and have continued on with vocational training. Also, 100 percent of school-aged children in the program were promoted to the next grade, attend school regularly and plan to graduate high school.
Over the past 11 years, 49 families from Nassau and Suffolk counties have benefited from the services provided by New Ground. The families are no longer homeless, have taken control of their financial situations and function as normal, taxpaying citizens. Sonia said she is ready to be the agency's next success story.
"It's very important to have stability and backup to say, 'We are here'," said Sonia. "The net isn't as big as it used to be because I can handle more things myself, but I have a net [in New Ground]. You got to have the net there."
