Stories
Meet Mary - a 9 year old girl with a bubbly personality and a participant in Choice for All's Student Success Center, a program supported by United Way of Long Island. Mary's mother was referred to the program by a community member that had a child in the program with similar academic concerns. Mary’s mom is a single mother of two with Mary being the youngest. She expressed concerns about Mary's…
The Anthony J. Stupore Memorial Scholarship Fund was created to provide a pathway to success for students who have shown a passion for giving back to their community, and demonstrated a commitment to excelling in academics.
Kierra is a 2016 graduate of Valley Stream South High School. She served as President of the Class of 2016, an AP Scholar with Distinction and is a talented athlete. With a…
Josephine is many things – a woman, a mother, and a domestic violence survivor. One thing she is not, is a statistic.
"I'm just happy to be alive, that I'm not a statistic, because I do know that a couple women in Nassau County lost their lives. I could have been one of them," she reflects.
Born and raised in Nassau County, Josephine became involved with a man who was her best friend. He later…
If you first met Gabe today, you would know him as a smart and successful man. He is a husband, a father, and currently part of the NorthEastern Apprenticeship & Training Program as an IBEW Local 1049 lineman. What you wouldn't know was what he's had to overcome to get to where he is now. Here is YouthBuild graduate Gabe's story in his own words:
"I grew up in Brentwood, Long Island and lived…
Daryl is a U.S. Army veteran and a single father raising his 14-year-old daughter in Freeport, doing the best he can to provide her with a happy life. He had been working as an MTA bus driver in Brooklyn for over 10 years, when in 2009 the bus he was driving rolled over a loose construction plate and was dropped into a hole in the street. His hip and back were injured, forcing him to leave work…
When U.S. Army Reserve Veteran Oswaldo lost his job, he found much needed support from United Way’s VetsBuild program to help get him back on his feet. Here is his story in his own words:
“I served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1990-98. Recently, I had a steady job that I had held for many years working in the healthcare field. Unfortunately, I was laid off when the contract with my company was…
At only 36 years old, it seems that Englebert has already lived many different lifetimes. His favorite is the one he is living now – holding a steady, and exciting job as a Solar Installation Professional at EmPower Solar.
Englebert’s parents came to Long Island from Haiti, working 12-hour shift days leaving him to be the man of the house, responsible for his own wellbeing as well as his younger…
Some might say she had an ideal life; with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from C.W. Post and a full-time position as a Teacher’s Assistant (TA) in the Plainedge School District’s Special Education Program - Janice was off to a fantastic start. When Janice’s grandmother died, however, Janice noticed a decline in her mental health. After being terminated from her TA job, a tale too upsetting for her to…
Anthony Royster is on top of the world – literally as an iron worker stationed on the Verrazano Bridge, and figuratively with a happy and loving family at home – but it wasn’t always this way.
Anthony grew up in a single-parent home in Wyandanch, with an older sister and two younger brothers where physical and mental abuse was commonplace. Without positive role models in his life, he searched…
After studying abroad in Florence, United Way of Long Island DREAMS for Youth Scholarship recipient Marie St-Cyr shares her thoughts on the experience, made possible by an enrichment scholarship.
What is the educational experience abroad like? How does it compare to that at home?
The educational experience abroad is very different from the one back at my home college. At the Lorenzo De Medici…