Selena’s Story
Selena first came to SCO’s Scattered Site Supportive Housing Program, in August 2017. This program provides housing and transitional services for young adults who have been in foster care and are at-risk of homelessness. Selena, who had been in foster care since age 9, was dealing with a lot of family and personal issues. She was feeling frustrated and depressed. The tipping point came when her biological father passed away.
As a way to help cope with her loss, Selena decided to write a book about her experience. She hoped sharing her experience might inspire others…turning her personal tragedy into something positive. Ever resourceful, Selena wrote her entire book on her cell phone and uploaded it onto Amazon where it is currently sold as a Kindle format e-book.
Selena’s entrepreneurial spirit had been unleashed. Following her book, Selena developed her own podcast where she talks about life issues and how she has dealt with them in the hopes of motivating others. Since establishing her podcast last year, she has attracted over 20,000 followers worldwide.
She didn’t stop there. Selena then decided that she wanted to sell merchandise with inspirational messages. She started her own online t-shirt company – printing, packaging and shipping orders out of her apartment.
Selena has found her calling. She has found healing through sharing her story and inspiring others and she has experienced personal growth in the process.
SCO staff are encouraging her to utilize her abilities and resilience to pursue her education. In doing so, Selena will be able to use her knowledge to promote and expand her budding enterprises and find other employment opportunities to help her as she transitions to independent living.
Carlos (pronoun they, their, them) is an amazing youth who was placed in SCO’s Family Foster Care program over 10 years ago. Carlos has undergone several hardships in their young life, however, they are a resilient youth who has remained focused on their schoolwork. Carlos graduated high school with high honors and is now a freshman attending New York University.
In their senior year of high school, SCO College Specialists assisted Carlos with applying for colleges, the New York State Education Training Voucher for youth in or formerly in foster care, and the Federal Higher Education Opportunity Program for economically disadvantaged students. Carlos currently studies animation at NYU and aspires to a career in movie animation with studios such as Pixar, Dream Works and Disney.
Carlos was nominated and accepted into a Mentoring Program that will support them throughout their undergraduate degree. The Mentoring Program is designed to help talented students find employment, troubleshoot any dilemmas they may face while in college, and prepare them for independent living as they transition to adulthood.
SCO helped Carlos open their first bank account and they are doing well with managing and saving their money. SCO also helped Carlos obtain their driver’s permit and their next step will be learning how to drive.
Carlos is a true SCO success story. We are confident they will hit the floor running and exceed in all of their future endeavors long after their journey with us ends.
90%
of residents in our NYC shelters were successfully discharged to stable housing
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