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Meet Malik

Eighteen-year-old Malik came to our Newark site after hearing about us in school. Despite all his troubles at home, he was still struggling to get through school. Not just to get through it, but to actually graduate, to get that high school diploma. This was tough; he was a very intelligent young man but pressures at home didn’t allow him to concentrate in school. There had always been "trouble at home" but lately it had intensified because of the strained relationship with his stepfather.

It became so bad, the arguments with his mother over his stepfather, the fights with his stepfather, that he was finally pushed out of the home. We took Malik into our Crisis Center and helped him develop a plan where he could stay in school and work at the same time. We provided life skills training — developing a resume, learning what to expect on the job, formulating a personal budget and how to search for a job.

Malik found a very good job as a Security Officer at the airport. He graduated and got that longed-for diploma. Malik’s progression continues. From our Crisis Center he moved into our Rights of Passage Program. While there he enrolled in Essex County Community College to study for an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. When Malik was ready to leave Rights, our HOME program helped him to find his own apartment. Malik has just turned twenty-one; his life is so much better now, in his own apartment, working at a good job with a career path, studying for his degree and attending church. He has even made a great effort to mend relationships with his mother, whom he telephones every week.