Finding Dignity and Identity Through Education
When I came to Kenmare, I was 17 years old and the mother of a 1-year-old little boy,” said Leoneli, a 2001 graduate of Kenmare Alternative High School, a program of the York Street Project in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“I came here because I knew that without an education, neither of us was going to get very far and I wouldn’t be able to take care of his needs.”
Breaking the Cycle
The York Street Project has helped women and children break the cycle of poverty since 1989. The Project’s mission is to weave innovative programs that shelter, feed, educate and promote the healing and independence of persons in need, especially women and their children.
Kenmare High School is part of that mission. Kenmare is a States accredited alternative high school that provides women (ages 17+) with the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and receive job and life skills.
Delivering Dignity
Dignity U Wear has strategically partnered with The Project by sending apparel, jewelry and handbags which enabled them to open the first Clothes Closet at Kenmare Alternative High School.
As the cartons were opened, the excitement was as it is on Christmas morning. The women were thrilled to have dresses and suits to wear to their graduation and on future job interviews.
One Graduate’s View
“Because Kenmare partners with organizations like Dignity U Wear to make sure that each woman who comes here leaves with an identity, I walked out of Kenmare High School with so much more than a diploma and am facing the future for me and my son with confidence,” said Leoneli.
“The American activist Andrew Goodman once said, ‘A people must have dignity and identity.’ I would venture to say that a people can not have identity without dignity.
Walking up to receive my hard earned diploma, in the beautiful, new professional wear, shoes, and accessories that I and my classmates were given to wear for our graduation ceremony, I looked as good on the outside as I felt about myself on the inside. Thank you Dignity U Wear for being a partner in helping me to present my true identity!”
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Thank you for sharing the story and for your suggestion! We agree and we’re working to get this feature enabled. Thank you again.