Category Archives: The Highlight

Keeping Up With Chidick: A Teen Who Once Experienced Homelessness Begins His College Experience

By Zion Lee

As college admissions dates began to approach in 2018, all eyes seemed to be glued to one very special teenager from Jersey City. Dylan Chidick, a young man full of determination and aspiration, had caught the media’s attention as he had applied to and received letters of acceptance from 17 colleges.

Not only was this a rare feat by itself, but Chidick also had been affected by homelessness during his time as a high school student. At the age of seven, Chidick’s family had immigrated from Trinidad to Brooklyn, before moving to Jersey City when a rise in prices drove them out. His family later was forced to move into a shelter, where his ability to study was bound by curfews and access to light. Yet, against all odds, Chidick showed the world that nothing would stop him from obtaining a higher level of education. Then, the moment Chidick and everyone else who had been following his story came when Chidick announced that he would be attending his dream school, The College of New Jersey.

Chidick’s experience and college application process has been a success story that news outlets covered and people indulged in. Yet, while the end of the news coverage on Chidick’s story seemed to formulate a happy ending for Chidick, his journey through life and in college had only just begun.

The Streetlight had the privilege of speaking with Chidick and inquired not only about his story, but also about what he must do now to get through this time of transition into college.

In an interview, Chidick spoke with great exuberance about the wonderful staff and friends he has interacted with and met at The College of New Jersey. However, he also revealed that he, admittedly, felt “a bit of imposter syndrome” when he sat in a class with other students. He felt as though he did not belong, because he felt that he was less prepared than the other students in his classes. Yet against odds, Chidick has been doing his best and keeping up with his classmates. In fact, Chidick had even ran for a position on the freshman class council for the student government and won a seat. While The College of New Jersey has been academically challenging for Chidick, it is clear that he has found a way to not only manage his work but also stay active in his community.

In the interview, Chidick gave words of wisdom for anyone facing homelessness who has dreams they want to accomplish. He stated that his experience “will always be a part of your life that you can never forget” however, “don’t let it define you.” Instead, Chidick advises that any students experiencing homelessness who hunger for education like he does to “take that situation” and “open your eyes” by becoming more informed and active in your community.

It is clear that while entering college has been a trying experience for Chidick, he has figured out how to stay on top of his work and excel in extracurriculars. While homelessness may have had a huge impact on his life, Chidick says that he will not let that define him as he continues to smile and spreads not only his excitement to everyone he meets but his hunger to learn and achieve his goals.

Tamara Torres: From Homelessness to Artistic Activist

By McKenna Samson

Tamara Torres sat on a stool in her Artworks Trenton studio, wearing her “La Feminista” collection T-shirt and some paint-speckled jeans, her curls tucked away in a headwrap, sitting on the edge of her seat waiting to tell her story and explain how a photograph of herself took her all the way across the world from her home city of Trenton to Italy.

The Mercer County native’s story begins in the city of Trenton. At age 11, she and her brother turned to the streets when things were rocky at home. It was on the city streets where Torres met an older friend, John*, who offered to buy her a camera and film in exchange for portraits of himself. Upon taking on this task, Torres realized her passion for photography. Her new 35mm Pentax film camera helped her to see the world in a whole new lens.

“The second I saw through the lens, it was like I saw everything different. It was like a square of things that weren’t realistic, but were, and that could be changed,” Torres remarked.

She explained that she was almost too eager for her own good.

“I took so many pictures that he [John*] was like ‘okay, film is expensive so, now I’m just going to break the camera. If you fix it, then I’ll give you more film.’ Now, you’re talking to someone that has nothing else to do, education-wise. So, I fixed the camera, boom. And he got me more film. I like to say that was the beginning of something.”

Torres’ interest in photography eventually grew into collage art. Her pieces focus on social-political issues; many of which Torres has experienced within her own community. Her piece entitled Freedom has a unique backstory that took her from Trenton to a show for UNICEF in Milan, Italy.

On her art piece, Freedom, Torres explained that she “created it for these two women that I met that were saving money to get their daughters back because they were from a different culture and when you get divorced in that culture, you lose everything, including family,” Torres explained. She shifted in her seat and nervously smiled as she continued.

She immediately went into the planning and execution of her first art piece, inspired.

“So, I remember going home and putting tape over my mouth and doing this picture. I gave them the photograph and I said ,‘I hope your daughters see a big world and I hope you can find their voice.’ They encouraged me to put it into shows and I was like ‘no way, that’s not gonna happen’ and it did.”

Freedom addresses the intersectionality of being an immigrant in America, especially those of color entering America for the very first time. “It was really cool because a lot of immigrants look at it and that’s how they feel being here with this big dream, but they can’t vote, they can’t say certain things, they have to be careful. That was the beginning of my social- political art,” Torres summarized.

Torres’ acknowledgement of her accomplishments was something that she had a tougher time grasping from her very first international experience. The realization that she had made it as an artist hit her when she was in an unlikely place for an art show: Edinburgh, Scotland.

As she leaned forward in her chair to describe the moment that her life changed, her eyes seemed to glimmer with excitement.

“I was walking to the museums and saw some art and I came out and sat down and I saw the … Scottish people just walking and I just started to cry. It had just hit me like ‘holy s**t.’ You were from the streets of Trenton with food stamps, roaches, no heat, seeing people get beat up and people being verbally abused and sexually abused at a young age, myself. You are now sitting under some stone in Scotland, like, Edinburgh looking at people walking by because of your art.”

She felt as though she had actually made it. There were endless possibilities for Torres, with her art as her guide.

As a Latinx woman navigating the art world, Torres found herself standing in her truth, among some of the international elite. The art field, often occupied by those hailing from privileged backgrounds, can be intimidating for those who have alternative origins. There is often a sense of pride one can feel as they enter such a technical and critical community. Torres seemed to feel a certain intensity as she thought to herself and reflected on this.

“There’s been exhibits that I’ve been a part of that people have been like ‘..where did you get your MA or your BA or CA or whatever,’ and like, I didn’t and it bothers them so much, mainly white artists, that I’m in their world of high standards where they are and I have nothing. Like, I came from nothing to this. It was just my work and my art that brought me there.”

Higher education, while it may have brought some people into the elite art world, did not serve Torres. The ability and passion, that she put into her art pieces allows for her to reach the same exhibits and clientele as artists that have been classically trained through higher education. Her ability to adapt and present her raw talent in these spaces is something that she knew she did not need classical training for. When Torres presented Freedom to the public in Italy for the first time ever, the art community there welcomed her genius with open arms. For her, it was an experience like no other.

For those who may feel as though they are struggling to find their way or would like to fit into elite spaces, Torres has a message: “If someone comes from a broken home, like I did, it’s really important that they understand that that is not their final destination. I have to say that you have to find something that you love and push on that.”

*The name ‘John’ has been used to protect the identity of the individual who provided Torres’ camera.

The Highlight: Trenton Mayor W. Reed Gusciora

For the last several months, New Jersey’s capital has been under new leadership. W. Reed Gusciora, a former state assemblyman and adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey, was sworn into office as Trenton’s 56th mayor in July. With the 2018 Point-in-Time Count finding that overall homelessness has increased in New Jersey, The Streetlight wanted to know how Gusciora is planning to address the issue on the local level. Here is a preview of Managing Editor Jared Kofsky’s Q+A with the mayor, which was conducted in late November.

The Streetlight: Why do you think Trenton has such a significant population of people experiencing homelessness? What do you think the cause [of homelessness] might be on the local level?

Gusciora: On the local level, a lot of it is mental health and addiction services are needed. The other thing is that we’re such a transient town. We have four train lines, people can walk across the bridge from Morrisville, and because it’s the capital, they feel that they can get the most assistance here. We have a lot of churches that offer food assistance [and] we have the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, so there are a lot of outlets that the homeless population can take advantage of.

The Streetlight: The Rescue Mission is the only general population emergency shelter in Mercer County. With Newark adding seven shelters, are there plans to open a city-run shelter in Trenton?

Gusciora: We can look at that but we’re focusing on transitioning to more permanent housing. I don’t think just offering more temporary shelters is necessarily the answer.

The Streetlight: What projects are you envisioning as part of an increase in transitional housing?

Gusciora: The Rescue Mission has a good model where they have rooms for temporary shelter but then they have a long-term temporary shelter where [people experiencing homelessness] have actual rooms assigned to them and they actually have apartments that they can stabilize long term until [clients experiencing homelessness] are able to get off on their feet. The Rescue Mission is not strictly temporary overnight housing and that’s something that we have to look for rather than just offering temporary shelters. The other thing is that we are the state capital so we need the state and the county to be very much a partner because if you look at the other communities that surround us, they offer very few homelessness services and they really need to step up to the plate so that everyone doesn’t just get funneled into the capital city.

The Streetlight: If you could have it your way as mayor, what would that look like to have other communities step up to the plate?

Gusciora: I think that they should have an obligation to offer some kind of temporary housing and bring the services to them directly, whether it be mental health or addiction services, rather than just give somebody bus fare to the capital city. I don’t think that really is responsive.

The Streetlight: Is there any plan specifically for increasing services addressing youth homelessness such as or in addition to Anchor House?

Gusciora: Well there’s other organizations such as LifeTies. A big consequence of homelessness are LGBT youth that seem to be tossed out of their family’s structure and as society gets more tolerant, that will be less of a problem but nonetheless, it’s critical to offer those services as well but there are other organizations that are willing to step up to the plate such as LifeTies.

The Streetlight: Do you think then that homelessness should be addressed by non-profits or should the city government play more of a role?

Gusciora: Well the problem is that the City doesn’t have the resources to handle the problem itself so it does have to rely on faith-based initiatives as well as general non-profits. If the State of New Jersey paid dollar-for-dollar in their property taxes because of all the tax-exempt properties that they occupy, they would give the City $45 million, but yet last year, we got $9 million in transitional aid, so we can’t keep going back to our own tax base to pay for such programs so we really need for the state and the county and even the feds to step up to the plate.

Selected questions and answers have been slightly condensed for spacing purposes.

The Highlight: Essence Scott

By Kristen Frohlich

Essence Scott began experiencing homelessness at eight years-old. Now 27, she is a homeowner attending Mercer County Community College. Essence is a dedciated community columnist for The Streetlight who has written numerous pieces about her experiences with homelessness. We sat down with her to share more of this story.

The Streetlight: At what age did you realize that you were homeless? How did you make this realization?

ES: I did not realize that I was homeless until I started getting involved with Homefront at age 13. I thought it all seemed normal even though at some level I knew it was not. I was confused as to why my parents never described our situation as “homelessness”; every time we had to get up and move, they just said that we had to go somewhere new. Getting involved with Homefront made me realize that there was a word for my situation: homeless. Now that I realize there is a word for this situation, I am choosing to give it a loud, clear voice and to recognize it for all its unique facets.

TS: What sorts of emotions did this realization evoke? How did those feelings change as you got older?

ES: I felt like an outsider especially when I first found a word to describe our situation. When I was living in Lawrenceville, my peers lived in fancy places, had their own bedroom, owned decent TVs, and could eat anything that they wanted to. I felt very envious of them because I wanted to have those things. When I got older, I didn’t want these things as much as I began wanting a space to express myself.

TS: We read your article “Connecticut Avenue” from the Spring 2016 issue. When did the motel housing start? What was the hardest part of living in a motel?

ES: We began living in motels when I was about 16 years old. At that time, it was my mother, brother, and sister all living in a small, cramped room. I was beginning to feel very depressed at this age and I wanted, desperately, to be by myself all the time but I could not find space to do this unless I went to the bathroom or sat outside. It was challenging.

TS: We understand that you worked with HomeFront and some of their programs while experiencing homelessness. Can you tell us a little more about this?

ES: I was a part of the first generation of a program called Triumphant Teens at HomeFront. This was my first experience working and it certainly taught me a lot about the value of independence and hard work. Both my parents are very hard working people and working with the program helped me appreciate their efforts so much more. There were very few programs out there for children in similar circumstances but I was lucky to find such a great mentorship with HomeFront.

TS: Who or what helped you the most during your time experiencing homelessness?

ES: My writing helped me a lot. I started keeping journals when I was 12 and I felt a lot better after that. I could be whoever I wanted to be in my writing—I could be happy, I could have more friends—really anything. Writing helped me to stay afloat a little longer.

TS: What did you learn about yourself while experiencing homelessness? What did you learn about others?

ES: My experience taught me the power of my own resilience. I am tough and that it takes a lot to wear me down. I know that I can handle a lot because I did for so many years. Others taught me that there is a lot of good in the world—more than you would expect—and sometimes we just are just looking in the wrong places. The night before Christmas Eve one year, my friend walked through the door with toys that her family had bought for us. I was not expecting this and I remember the feeling that I got when I saw her. It was truly incredible.

TS How did you transition from not having a home to being a homeowner?

ES: Before I met my boyfriend, I was living with my family in another apart ment. It was a sudden transition for my family and me as we were going to be evicted from a hotel. I then decided to ask someone at HomeFront for help since we were really about to be homeless and he helped us find and secure a home on Connecticut Avenue. I think I was too excited and overwhelmed at the time for it to really sink in. And for months after that, we were nervous about becoming homeless again. Once you experience the security of your own home, the last thing you want to do is lose it and return to an unfamiliar hotel room.