Living the Line

Archive for the ‘Education & Employment’ Category

Gang Violence Persists in Struggling NYC Communities

New York, NY – For the last four years, Reggie Andrews had been in and out of jail and had been unable to spend his birthdays at home with friends and family. Andrews was turning 22 years old and was passing the day with his mother and his girlfriend. A home-cooked birthday dinner was being […]

Failing the GED and the Homeless in New York City

The homeless population in New York City is growing each year. Half of all homeless parents have not earned their high school diploma, limiting them at best to low-wage, dead-end jobs. The GED exam should be a tool in helping them achieve self-sufficiency, but it is not. New York City has one of the worst […]

Wage Gap a Bigger Burden on Single Moms

Liana Sarantos is a single mother of four in Brooklyn who relies on the local food bank, food stamps and energy assistance, among other programs to survive month to month. Her meager annual salary of about $16,500 and child support of about $3,900, “if he pays,” have qualified her to live in subsidized housing where […]

Earning a Living Wage Through Construction Skills

NEW YORK — For single mothers like Catana Yehuda, 43, learning construction skills was her only solution to earning a living wage in this tough economy. For those struggling with unemployment for more than a year, like Yehuda, the Human Resource Administration (HRA) has long stressed interviewing and resume writing workshops. While these state administered […]

Schools Struggle To Provide for Homeless Students

As the city adds 19 more schools to its list of failing schools, some teachers and city officials are charging that those schools with higher populations of students living in temporary housing are more likely to be on the chopping block. There are over 16,000 school-aged children living in shelters throughout New York City, according to […]