Tanisha Cunningham knew too well how difficult the transition from foster care to emancipation can be. Having been raised in foster care and group homes herself, the sudden transition to independence was jarring. "The fact that I succeeded is not the usual case. It was not because I was given the resources, but because I sought them out for myself."
Her own experience in foster care inspired her to work in the New York City Child Welfare Office and to later pursue advanced degrees in Public Administration. In January 2009, she started The Underground Railroad to Success, Inc., a Montclair-based non-profit designed to provide resources to children transitioning out of the foster care system. According to Cunningham, most children in this situation never receive information about available resources, information that could assist with housing, job opportunities, and tuition grants for higher education.
The website lists dire statistics about the path of emancipated foster children: "According to the Child Welfare League of America, 25 percent become homeless, 56 percent are unemployed, 27 percent of male children end up in jail."
Currently, the new organization's activities mostly center around arranging workshops for children aging out of foster care in the age groups of 15 - 17, or recently emancipated adults between the ages of 18 - 24. These workshops focus on a variety of life skills, such as learning how to manage stress and emotions, set up bank accounts, and dress for interviews. "These are things that may seem obvious to you, but for them they are not....Most kids coming out of foster care are not educated, they have system hopped from foster care, group homes, or been incarcerated," said Cunningham. "They need to be taught these skills."
Cunningham leads most of the workshops herself, but sometimes seeks the help of professionals, such as arranging for a Rutgers faculty member to talk about the process of applying for college, or staff members from local banks to discuss financial literacy.
In the future, Cunningham would like to raise the funds to create a group home for older children. For now though, the organization is still focusing on gathering available resources for foster children. Having worked in the New York foster care system, the New Jersey laws and resources are considerably more complicated by comparison, and the organization's first goals are to understand and compile the available resources to help the children.
URS was recently awarded a $500 stimulus micro-grant from Investing In Women, a group that empowers women with small businesses or non-profits. The money will be used toward marketing URS, says Cunningham. "There are a lot of people who don't know about this need, and we are on a mission to raise awareness."
URS is welcomes donations for their services and programs, as well as dedicated volunteers to serve as mentors.
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Comments (17)
What a courageous woman!
To achieve success through adversity such as Tanisha did is a lesson for those who take for granted their privileged upbringing.
Thanks for giving back and making our community a better one. Philanthropy is not always the most popular choice these days.
Tanisha,
You are an amazing woman!
Kids end up in foster care for any number of reasons and them, the families and the social workers who deal with it are doing God's work.
That you are working to help those emancipated kids who face such daunting statistics is, well... I don't know what to say-- but the work you do is special!
(those who know the prof, know that this where he usually screams about our twisted Gov spending priorities-- 20k per pupil in Newark and $500 here? ... but he'll stay quiet. )
Way to go!! Bravo Ms. Cunningham. You are one in a million. I will be making a DONATION to your organization and would like to volunteer in some way.
I was not a foster child but I was out on my own at a very young age after dropping out of high school.I could have EASILY fallen through the "cracks", save for a chance at Community College and some encouraging professors who helped me apply for aid. I was then able to continue on to a 4 year College (on loans which I repaid) and now own my own business. I am the perfect example of a person who needed just a little guidance to become a fully functioning -and contributing- member of society.
SPEAKING OF CONTRIBUTING: WHERE ARE ALL THE COMPLAINERS ON THIS THREAD??? WHAT'S THE MATTER? YOU ARE UNABLE TO MUSTER A FEW KIND AND ENCOURAGING WORDS FOR SOMEONE WHO (INSTEAD OF SITTING AROUND TRASHING PEOPLE) HAS SPENT HER TIME WORKING HARD TO HELP OTHERS??
Brilliant. And thank you.
Ditto Prof.!!
Stunned that the grant is only $500.
(Did not see that till after my post.)
Maybe the Mtc. High Football Team will donate 10% of their "motivational speaker" money...
Monty, you are a tiresome dolt. There, are you happy now?
This is an awfully impressive story. I have to say I'm in awe of people who do things like this. I can barely find my way to the train station in the morning, and this woman is working tirelessly on behalf of others. Bravo.
Thanks Walleroo!
Its always nice to receive a hurtful comment.
Tanisha, you're a shining light!
I echo the other comments about the paltry amount of the grant, but am sure it is only the tip of the iceberg for this much-needed organization.
I'd put my faith in people like Tanisha more than I'd put my faith in a government program. So hopefully she'll make a difference.
I'd also like to congratulate Joyce Li on a relevant, readable, informative and grammatical piece of original writing.
Billions of 'stimulus' dollars being wasted and unaccounted for and they can only give Tanisha and her organization $500? People like Tanisha and her efforts are truly the backbone of this country and certainly worth more then the $500 she was granted.
Believe me, if this were a government agency they would be supported by staffing in the dozens if not hundreds and budget probably in the millions and with results no where near what Tanisha could accomplish.
We need more people like Tanisha. Good job and best wishes for continued success.
She needs a matching grant of $500 from Fox News. That'll show'em.
Happy to help, monty.
I know this is beating "dead horse" but I want to apologize for the tone of my original post in which I scolded this "community" for not posting more on this thread.
At the moment I drafted my post only one other person had commented and I was upset. (prof posted 2nd but before I hit send) No sooner had I posted then all the other posts started pouring in.
Sorry b-net community -I jumped the gun - and ended up being the one spreading the negativity.
Wallerloo -I'm really not a tiresome dolt - just a regular dolt.
ah, but monty, maybe your scolding precipitated the "pouring in".
Oh, gee, monty, who can have any hard feelings after that. I'm sorry I called you a tiresome dolt. Let's form a regular dolt club. I'll be the Secretary.
(Psst, ROC, don't encourage him.)