Our Good Person Awards Celebration on May 9th was a big success, thanks to supporters like you, we raised over $300,000, of which $30,000 was raised in the room! We thank you for your support!
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Learn more about our Tenant Nominees:
Rachel
Rachel Marshall-Brown, HousingPlus Tenant and Veteran, served for over 6 years in the US Army before she was honorably discharged. She currently works at the Samaritan Daytop Village in the Young Mothers Program as a Case Manager, guiding mothers through recovery while they care for their children. She is also a recovery coach and an advocate with the New York State Alumni Association, working towards fair treatment and breaking the stigmas surrounding mental health and substance abuse.
Rachel first came to HousingPlus in 2015 and spent a year in our transitional housing program. She later entered the shelter system after leaving a devastating domestic situation. While in the shelter, she went back to school, graduated with Honors from Kingsborough Community College and earned her CASAC-T certification. She is now working toward her Bachelor’s in Sociology at City College of New York; next, she has her sights on a Master’s in Social Work.
Recalling the positive experience she had previously, Rachel was thrilled to rejoin HousingPlus as a permanent supportive housing tenant in 2023. One of her greatest achievements will be reaching the 10-year mark in her recovery journey in August 2024.
Shaniqua:
Shaniqua came to HousingPlus in 2018. A single mother of two, Shaniqua is a devoted mother who loves her children dearly. Shaniqua suffers from mental illness, including PTSD and Anxiety Disorder, as well as other physical challenges that impact her daily. However, she has not let that take her focus away from the one goal she has had since she was 11 years old—to become her own boss.
Shaniqua found her passion in crocheting and learned it is something for which she has quite a talent. She repeatedly underscored to her Case Manager her desire to complete coursework in crocheting and earn her certification. As of December, Shaniqua completed that coursework and is now certified; she has a desire to become a Content Creator to start off her crochet business, a goal she is working on today.
Shaniqua has also taken on the role of becoming a Home School Teacher to her 7-year old daughter, who is disabled and would need to have a special accommodation to be in a traditional classroom. Shaniqua is teaching her daughter online through Acellus Academy/Power Home School, who is maintaining a grade average of 85-100%. Her daughter is already beginning to excel in her new academic setting, thanks to her mother’s drive and persistence for herself and for her child to have a brighter future.
Shinika:
Shinika, who moved into her HousingPlus apartment over 10 years ago, is a single mother to her 12-year-old daughter. As the only parent her daughter has to rely on, Shinika wants to be sure that she can provide her daughter with everything she needs. Shinika thought that the only way for this to happen was if she took steps towards going back to school to get a degree. She started attending Touro College majoring in Liberal Arts, obtaining her Associates Degree in the fall of 2023; but she’s not stopping there. She has gone on to study Digital Multimedia Design and is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree. Shinikas’s strength, determination, and drive for success, are key to providing a better life for herself and her daughter, and also to secure their future.