New Haven Independent

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The Rev. Bonita Grubbs (to the right in the photo) and Gail Chambless had every reason in the world to beam on Tuesday night at the Stepping Stones Transitional Housing site at 660 Winchester Ave.

Grubbs, the executive director of Christian Community Action, and Chambless, the vocational coordinator, were presiding with evident pride over the first annual recognition award ceremony for their PIVOT program. In its second year of funding by Empower New Haven, the program, whose handy acronym tells it all (Programs for Internships, Vocational Opportunities, and Training), provides a support system, which includes coaching, GED assistance, job placement, transportation assistance, whatever it takes, in Grubbs’ phrase, to move people out of homelessness and along the path to rewarding work and career.

Erma Moye (to the left in the photo) was one of 16 graduates of PIVOT to receive a certificate and recognition during the ceremonies. When her daughter Jalissa was born, the baby was hospitalized for her first 19 months of life, forcing Moye to leave her job. Through the PIVOT program, Moye obtained an internship with United Way, as a step or bridge in returning to the world of work. More than a dozen other organizations including Verizon, the Mary Wade Home, and the American Red Cross participate offering internships, training, workshop, or employment to PIVOT.

Moye’s internship, which began in November, was a great success; she was offered a full-time job in February - and her daughter is now healthy and was in the audience applauding her mother.

“We’re tremendously proud of Erma,” said Stefanie Boles (to the right in photo above), who represented United Way. “Every task we gave her she saw as a challenge and rose to it with skill and willingness. Given what is going on her life, she has an amazing ability to cope. She is a tremendous addition to our team.”

Moye, like everyone of PIVOT’s graduates, lives in one of Christian Community Action’s sites for transitional housing, such as Stepping Stones, or the Hillside Family Emergency Shelter, at its sites on Davenport or Sylvan Avenue.

“We conducted a survey two years ago,” Grubbs explained, “and found many people rendered homeless had skills, had experience in jobs at many levels. We wanted to set up a program that would provide them what they need to discover abilities, to move to the next step, and to provide the support to them, and assurance to potential employers, that they could succeed. Anyone can have a job, and make money, but our goal is to provide, through individualized assessment and support, a step toward a fulfilling work life.”

“Some of our people,” added Chambliss, “have, for example moved on from being home care workers to getting their LPN (licensed practical nurse) certificates. And they come from all walks of life and have in common that they are suddenly homeless. We have one client who has an MBA. We have one man who was laid off from Stop and Shop, and we’ve helped him take the tests required, and he is soon to become a New Haven fireman.”

Myra Smith, who described herself in a moving testimony at the end of the ceremonies, as “a ghetto girl with her hood ways who never thought she would change,” did indeed. Big time. She was placed in an internship at the office of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. (DeLauro’s deputy district director Stanley Welch is proudly in the photo with Smith.) She had an opportunity to work in political campaigns, but, most importantly, to work with people on their real problems through the congresswoman’s office. “I hated politics,” said Smith, “but I learned it’s really not about Iraq but local things. The war I want to fight in my next job is the war on homelessness, the war on insufficient housing.” (Anyone interested in placement for this natural born leader and speaker, or other PIVOT clients, should contact Gail Chambless at this website. )

Carletta Coe was another beaming graduate. While she held down a full-time job at Saint Raphael’s hospital, the PIVOT program placed Coe as an intern at a local day care center. Why? Because Coe wants to eventually run her own, and her confidence and poise, and sense of planning indicate she will. “I’m going to enroll in a home ownership course soon,” she said. “The idea is to buy my own home and set it up so that I can take care of kids in part of it.”

Coe’s, Moye’s, and Smith’s dreams and those of other PIVOT members are coming true, slowly, and with hard work, and dedication. PIVOT has been refunded by Empower New Haven, and 40 new participants are coming in, and thereby breaking the vicious cycle of homelessness.

At the end of the ceremonies, members of the Rock Tabernacle Ministries Choir — in which Erma Moye is a member — sang a song called “Blessed.” One of its lyrics was known by many in the audience who clapped and sang along: “Late in the midnight hour, God’s going to turn it around …it’s going to work in your favor …God’s going to turn it around.”

But everyone in that audience also knows that God’s work on earth must truly be their own, along with indispensable and loving help from the PIVOT program. Congratulations!