wfn.org | [ENS] Out of Deep Waters: New Orleans kids find a place in Newark

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Friday, October 28, 2005

Out of Deep Waters: New Orleans kids find a place in Newark

By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] Newark, New Jersey, is cold this time of year
and the cold is just one of the many changes three New Orleans students
have faced in the weeks since Hurricane Katrina.

The changes began on early in the morning August 28 for Shanise Pembrick,
12, her brother, Tyrone, 11, and their cousin Roy Lewis, 9, and the other
28 members of their extended family. That's the day they loaded up ten
cars and trucks and left the Ninth Ward of New Orleans ahead of the storm.

They had planned to go to Houston but after getting in touch with a
relative in Montclair, New Jersey, outside of Newark, they headed north.

The three tell a long story of traveling through Alabama, Georgia, the
Carolinas, Virginia, the District of Columbia and on up the coast to New
Jersey. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper, they had trouble finding gas,
and Shanise and Tyrone's father had to be hospitalized for a time.

They left a lot behind and took very little with them. Roy says he
knows that his brick home now just looks like it has white boards on it.
Shanise said her house has holes in the roof. Some family members know
that their houses had things stolen from them.

Two members of the family, father and son James and Tyrone Williams,
stayed behind to protect their home from looters. They were marooned in
their house when the flood waters rose. They were rescued by boat and
taken to the Superdome.

The rest of the family didn't know where they were until two members of
the family saw their grandfather on television, laid out on a stretcher
in the stadium. They posted missing persons notices until they found them.

The family was taken in first by Bethany Baptist Church in Newark. The
congregation gave them a place to stay in a house that had formerly
been a women's shelter. Members of the congregation and other faith
communities in the area provided food, clothing, toys and books.

It was close quarters for the family that ranges from babies to
great-grandparents. "People kept fussing," said Tyrone.

And there was the question of school. That's when Bethany member Leonard
Murray went to work, suggesting that St. Philip's Academy in downtown
Newark take some of the children. Murray, a St. Philip's parent, presented
the idea to Headmaster Manuel Brito who jumped at the chance.

"Expanding our capacity to serve others is fundamental to our existence,"
Brito said.

Five members of the extended Williams family from New Orleans began the
school year at St. Philip's. Two have since left but Shanise, Tyrone and
Roy remain. Other school-age members of the family are attend Montclair
High School and the smaller ones are in the pre-school at Bethany.

Some of the new St. Philip's students needed tutors to help them catch
up with their classmates while others are struggling with all the losses
in their lives. They and their relatives attend a bereavement group
regularly offered at the school. The uniforms, warm clothes, lunches,
transportation and tuition have all come from St. Philip's.

Shanise and Tyrone said they made friends the first day.

"I felt strange at first," Roy said. When asked how he felt now, he was
quiet for a few moments and then said, "Better."

"It's been fun out here, but I just hate the cold," Shanise said.

St. Phillip's, founded in 1988 in the Episcopal tradition, aims to serve
the children of Newark by providing them with a top-notch, private-school
education regardless of their families' ability to pay. It costs $12,000
per year to attend the school. Every child gets a scholarship and many
families get other financial aid as well. The school's annual budget is
$3.3 million of which $2.2 million is raised.

St. Philip's faculty and staff have often helped the families of their
students when they faced emergencies. In fact, it's part of the school's
philosophy.

Associate Head of School Jennifer Weil said St. Philip's has always known
that it had to address more than simply the academics if the school's
students were to thrive.

"Providing a support network for the family allows the children to be
successful and prosper," she said. "It's really the only way."

"Working with families displaced by Katrina is just a small part of what
we do every day. We're not just in the business of education but also of
reaching out to families and making them whole," said Penny Page, director
of development. "We want the hurricane evacuees to get a hold of their
lives again and to regain their dignity. It's our moral responsibility."

Since New Orleans is beginning to look to the future, Weil said, some
of the men in the extended family have gone back home to get work. They
mainly work in the trades. One is an electrician, another is a tugboat
operator.

In the weeks since their arrival, the St. Philip's community and the
larger community has rallied around the family. Donors have stepped
forward to help parts of the family move into other housing. The family
still has mortgages and other bills to pay in New Orleans and the fact
of paying rent in Newark was daunting, Weil said.

The Newark law firm McCarter & English is contributing any needed legal
services to the family and Impact Coaching Services had donated life
coaching. The school's staff helped with resume writing, and employment
and housing searches. The family has gotten help with automobile
repairs and furniture and household essentials have come from donors and
restricted gifts to the school. Public Service Enterprise Group (PSE&G),
a utility headquartered in Newark, has also helped.

"People have come together just beautifully," Weil said. "You need a
lot of people to do this."

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the
Episcopal News Service.

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