The 50 beds at the Sierra House are filled with young women dealt a bad hand, previously homeless or aged out of the foster system. They’re not to stay there, though: they’re in a two-year transitional program, where they need to either work or be in school, and partake in Sierra House’s daily chores and life skills classes.
East Orange’s Sierra House aims to prevent these young women from being one of the 754,000 people on any given night without a home, but according to Case Manager Marcia Dash-Smith, “they have to be willing to better themselves.”
Dash-Smith is attending the Leading Women Entrepreneurs Force for Change event in Newark on Thursday, seeking motivation and inspiration to bring back to her women and girls. She was invited by Desiree Watson, president and chief executive of Wellness Interactive, a sponsor of the event.
Watson, whose business merges corporations with nonprofits like Sierra House so that the former can create sustainable programs to support the nonprofit, rather than write a one-time check, extended the invite in hopes that some Sierra House residents could come, but they all had to work. The information and connections at events like this are important for Sierra House residents, though, according to Dash-Smith.
“We have one young lady who is interested in having her own business, her own organization for people who are wrapped up in the juvenile system,” she said. “When they go out to these events like this, they’re inspired – they hear someone else’s story, and they hear ‘we’re not the only one, and if they can do it we can do it.'”
More from the lead-up to the Nov. 14 LWE Force for Change event
She’s also seeking job leads and connections to mental health counseling for the residents at the Force or Change event.
“We try to get them higher paid jobs so that they’re able to maintain [their own apartment after transition], and 86 percent of our young ladies transition from homelessness into their own apartment,” Dash-Smith said. “We have some women working with NJ Transit, some working with Amazon. They’re working with daycare centers, they’re working at banking facilities. We try to use any and all resources, even our own family and friends that may have their own businesses [for job leads].”
Multiple Sierra House residents are pursuing their education; some are at Essex County College, others are at Rutgers. A handful are in trade school.
While at the Sierra House, 55 percent of residents gain permanent employment.
Dash-Smith’s relationship with Sierra House residents doesn’t end when that person transitions out. They call all the time, and Sierra House passes on donated items, like shampoo and diapers, to former residents. When they do get their own apartment, the organization connects them to someone who can furnish it for free; and the women and girls often come back for events.
“There are some people that you lose track of but for the most part we keep in touch, and they call. They definitely call,” she said. “Sometimes they come back, they say ‘Miss Marcia, I need case management I need to talk to you!’ So we have good relationships with the girls.”
