According to a recent New York Times article, homeless individuals in New York now have a great, new opportunity to make a significant change in their lives with the help of Advantage Academy. As a program that is offered in conjunction with the city’s Department of Homeless Services and St. John’s University, Advantage Academy provides academic opportunities to homeless individuals as well as to those who were formerly homeless.

Through the innovative program, homeless individuals can pursue an associate’s degree in either business or information technology, which provides them with the first step they need to take toward getting out of poverty. Still, it is not an easy task for the students.

“After class, I go home to my shelter, change my clothes, do some homework, drop off my son at my mom’s house and go back to work,” said Fallon Coffer, who is 22-years-old and homeless, in the New York Times article.

Nonetheless, the students of Advantage Academy are certainly appreciative of the opportunity the program provides. Currently, the program has 42 students, nearly all of which are single mothers with an average age of 27.

Although this isn’t the first time a collaboration has been made to help improve the education level of homeless individuals, it is the first time a city agency has combined forces with a university to help homeless individuals earn a degree. Bard College, for example, offers a similar program that is offered in about 20 different places around the country, but students can only take six credits worth of college-level classes. In addition, though the program is aimed toward economically disadvantaged people, it is not specifically meant for those who are homeless.

In these ways, Advantage Academy is different from the Bard College programs. In addition to striving to help break the cycle of poverty, the Advantage Academy also works toward transitioning its students from a shelter system into permanent housing. According to many experts, this step is key to helping the students achieve long term success.

“When people are living in a shelter and they don’t have permanent housing, they begin to lose confidence in themselves,” said Timothy Marx, who is the executive director of Common Ground, which is New York-based organization that aims to prevent homelessness, in the New York Times article. “Knowing they can go to college and compete in this economy really provides hope.”

Of course educating 42 homeless individuals will only cause a small ripple in the homeless problem, as this only addresses a small number of the individuals in need of a helping hand.

“It’s good news to hear those 42 folks will get the chance to go to college, but it needs to be understood in the broader context, that there are more than 36,000 homeless New Yorkers and that last year 110,000 homeless children and adults spent time in the city’s shelter system,” said Patrick Markee, who is the senior policy analyst at the Coalition for the Homeless, in the New York Times article.

Nonetheless, there is no denying that the program is taking a step in the right direction toward putting an end to the homeless situation.

“For a whole number of reasons, college has not always been accessible to people who are homeless,” said Dennis P. Culhane, who is a professor of social policy at the University of Pennsylvania, in the New York Times article. “Even if it’s only for a relatively small group of people, it’s a group of people who wouldn’t otherwise be getting there.”

In order to be accepted into the program, the students at Advantage Academy had to have a G.E.D. or high school diploma. After getting accepted into the program, however, the students enjoy a wide range of benefits. For example, the program’s goal is to have all of the students secure an apartment by sometime this summer. It addition, the students are receiving childcare and transportation services through the Department of Homeless Services. The college expenses are being paid through the New York Tuition Assistance Program and through federal Pell Grants, with the rest of the college expenses being picked up by St. John’s University.

Although attending classes is not an easy task for many of these homeless individuals, who are still struggling with getting their basic needs met, those involved with the program home to see the students employed and living on their own at the end of the two-year program. For many of the students, the program has also provided much hope for a brighter future.

“When you live in the shelter system, there’s a dirt on you that won’t wash off; you’re a statistic; you don’t have any ambition or drive,” said 31-year-old Jana Rhoden, who is a student at the Academy who has been moved to three different shelters over the last three years. “I want my bachelor’s and my master’s, and after that, I want to reach out to other women who couldn’t make it and give them hope.”

Feeling inspired yet? If these individuals who have gone through so much pain, poverty and uncertainty are able to find the time to attend college, you can too! Visit the Top-Colleges home page and start exploring opportunities today!