Success Stories - New Community Corporation

New Community Corporation has steadfastly remained true to its mission of improving the quality of life for inner city residents since 1968. Take time to learn more about some of the people whose lives have been positively impacted by New Community:

Adult Learning Center Success Story Lisandro Rodriguez

Turning Tragedy Into Motivation, GED Student Pursues Goals

Despite having a thriving career, Lisandro Rodriguez decided to return back to the classroom to earn his GED at New Community. Most of his coworkers at the biomedical technology company where Rodriguez has worked for 17 years would likely be surprised to learn that he doesn’t have his GED, he said. “It’s just something for me,” said Rodriguez. During the summer, he enrolled in the GED class offered at New Community’s Adult Learning Center with instructor Delya Holt. He plans to tackle the four-part exam in pieces, first taking the math section. “I lack confidence when it comes to tests,” Rodriguez acknowledged. That’s why he came to class hungry to learn and even supplemented the lessons at home with online

Wayne-Bullock-of-Extended-Care-featured-image

Quick Turnaround: Rehab At NCC Gets Man Back On His Feet

During the summer, Wayne Bullock was in a world of pain. But a mere three weeks of physical therapy at the New Community Extended Care Facility made a world of difference for the 57-year-old Newark resident. “I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t bend,” Bullock recalled. But his progress since then has been remarkable, he noted. “I went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane,” he said. After being discharged from Saint Michael’s Medical Center in August, Bullock came to the New Community Extended Care Facility for rehabilitation. Previously, Bullock said he had health issues with his liver that also impacted his mobility. “I couldn’t bend my legs but I said, it’ll pass,” he said. But suddenly one day, his

Climbing Higher, Former NCC Student Forges Successful Career Path

It’s been quite a journey for Wanda Rodriguez to get to where she is now. And she hasn’t got plans to stop anytime soon. Rodriguez is currently in the process of purchasing her first house. In January, she will enroll at Rutgers-Newark to pursue a master’s degree in social work—a goal that she’s been pursuing, but has eluded her, for a few years. Her classes will begin in January of 2016. “If you really want to pursue something, it’s a matter of determination,” said Rodriguez, 32. She’s come a long way since first walking through the doors of New Community in 2004. Martina Lopez-Nunez has known Rodriguez for years and first met her when she signed up for English classes

Paying It Forward: Longtime Camper Returns To NCC As Summer Volunteer

By Katherine Angulo Latasia Anderson is currently a volunteer at New Community Youth Services Summer Camp, a place where everyone is valued and welcomed. Born and raised in Newark, Anderson is the third oldest out of four siblings, with an older brother who is 21, a younger brother, 5, and a newborn sister who is 11 months old. Anderson said she likes to help her mother, who works as a Cablevision operator, and in her free time volunteers at the New Community Youth Services Summer Camp, where Anderson works with 9-year-old campers. Out of all the things Anderson could be doing this summer, why did she choose to be here? Most of her free time is doing nothing, really, she

Two Auto Grads Land Jobs With Volkswagen After Training At NCC

Reginald Norris and Kennard Irving are swimming in a sea of Volkswagens. Their work days are filled with a steady stream of VWs pulling in and out of the service department at Gensinger Volkswagen, a dealership in Clifton, where the two graduates of New Community’s Automotive Technician Employment and Training Program both recently landed full time jobs. For Norris and Irving, securing jobs at Gensinger Volkswagen opens up a world of possibilities in the automotive industry. Both men were trained at NCC’s auto program, held at the state-of-the-art Automotive Training Center on West Bigelow Street in Newark, which Brian Pleva said allowed both men to start working on cars immediately upon being hired. “They basically were able to start working

Monsignor Linder Scholar Graduates As Valedictorian Of Saint Vincent Academy

At times, Monsignor William J. Linder Scholar Chioma Onwunaka felt like the day would never arrive. But four years of rigorous college preparatory education at Saint Vincent Academy finally did culminate, and for Onwunaka, the valedictorian of SVA’s Class of 2015, graduation felt like a dream come true. “My fellow graduates, the time that we have been dreaming about and stressing over for these last four years has finally come,” Onwunaka said in her valedictory address at commencement on June 7 in Newark. “We must now move on and take what we have learned from SVA and bring it to the rest of the world.” Onwunaka, 18, is the daughter of Veronica Onwunaka, director of nursing at New Community Extended

Anne Moran Family Resource Success Center volunteer

NCC Volunteer Keeps Serving Even After Landing New Job

When Anne Moran landed a new job, she felt no impulse to leave behind her role as a volunteer at the New Community Family Resource Success Center. Initially placed at the Family Resource Success Center as part of the Community Work Experience Program (CWEP), Moran quickly became Director Joann Williams-Swiney’s point person for anyone seeking help paying their energy bills through NJ SHARES. NJ SHARES is a nonprofit that partners with authorized provider agencies, such as NCC, to help families in a financial crisis pay their electric and gas bills with a grant of up to $1,200. As a CWEP participant, Moran was assigned to the Family Resource Success Center in April of 2014 to improve her employability through structured

Three Home Health Aides Land Jobs After Training At NCC

Landing your first full-time job is a life-changing experience. For three young women from Newark, that achievement resulted after they successfully completed the Certified Homemaker Home Health Aide Program at New Community’s Workforce Development Center. The three students who received job offers just two weeks after completing their training at NCC—Mizani Drummond, Qaneisha McCree and Shamella Hughes—will be employed by Caring People Home Healthcare Agency, according to the employment letters from the Clifton-based agency dated April 8, 2015. Director of Workforce Development Rodney Brutton said that the employer was impressed with the graduates of the Certified Homemaker Home Health Aide Program and requested that NCC recommend additional graduates in the future. “I’m excited for the three young ladies, Shamella, Qaneisha

ShopRite Hires 14 Store Associates Trained At NCC

They have made the move from “trainee” to “store associate.” A group of 14 individuals who arrived at New Community’s ShopRite Training Program as hopeful job seekers have landed jobs as associates at the Brookdale ShopRite in Bloomfield. The Brookdale store is owned by Neil Greenstein, who has partnered with New Community’s Workforce Development Center in anticipation of hiring hundreds of employees upon opening his second ShopRite on Springfield Avenue in Newark this year. Rodney Brutton, NCC’s director of Workforce Development, said he was proud that 14 students from the first cohort of the training program, which relaunched in 2014, secured jobs. “Our graduates are well trained and well positioned to assume front-end positions at any area ShopRite stores,” Brutton

Two NCC Building Trades Students Land Construction Jobs

Maurice Culley and Emiliano Jones start their workdays while most people are hitting the snooze button. Fully geared up and on site by 6:30 a.m., the two young men are working for TAI Specialty Construction, a Maryland-based company that’s contracted with Kuehne Chemical Company, which is located in the industrial area of South Kearny. They work in TAI’s Fiberglass and Coatings Division, cutting fiberglass and sanding and prepping pipes for use at the Kuehne worksite, where brine is made into bleach of a high concentration. Culley and Jones, who were hired in October and November, respectively, landed jobs with TAI as a result of training at New Community Workforce Development Center’s Building Trades Training Program. The 540-hour course, offered at