HomeWorks Trenton in New Jersey offers teen girls in public schools academic support and boarding school experience

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A nonprofit organization called HomeWorks Trenton, Inc. is combining the boarding school experience with the public school system for Trenton high school girls, who come from struggling homes. The goal of the program is to transform the students to “citizen scholars,” said Natalie Tung, co-founder and executive director.

“By having the title scholars, hopefully, it gives them the confidence to know that they can do anything and everything and to know that they are here to really grow themselves both academically but also personally as well,” she said. “The students are brilliant and really want the best for themselves and for the community, but there are so many challenges that include the housing system, health care, food insecurity. They become barriers for our students to really be focused in the classroom.”

Trenton’s poverty rate is 27.7%, according to Data USA. Tung said HomeWorks aims to provide students a supportive environment that empowers them with the tools and the confidence to become leaders in their communities. Students are given academic instruction and tutoring and offered identity work and leadership, and classes on global and social justice.

“I believe all of our girls, they come into the world capable, they’re all very special and unique in their own ways, and they are capable of doing whatever they set their mind to,” Tung said.

The program was established in 2016 and has raised more than $9 million from various corporations and organizations. The dormitory operates at the Rider University campus but later this fall, the program will move to its own location in Trenton and increase the number of participating scholars from 19 to 42.

Seventeen-year-old Joy Ngaruiya has been part of the program for three years. She lives with 18 other girls in a dormitory on the Rider University campus on school days and visits her family over the weekend.

“At home, you don’t know what to expect when you walk out your front door,” she said. “Here you know it’s full security, you don’t have to live in the shadow of fear.”

The program keeps the students busy. On a typical school day, Joy and the other students get on the bus to head to their Trenton high school at 6:30 a.m. At the end of the school day, they return to their dorm and participate in different programs focused on academic enrichment and leadership. Some of them also work with tutors or go on field trips. At night, after a family-style dinner, students attend study hall until 8:30 p.m.

It’s demanding academically and there’s not a lot of time for video games and other distractions, but that’s exactly why Joy said she wanted to be a part of the program.

“I wanted to be exposed to different kinds of things, and knowing the kind of school I go to, it really doesn’t go beyond a regular offering,” she said. “I know college is hard so I don’t want to be surprised, I want to have a little prep before that.”

She said living with the girls in the dorm is like having a second family.

“It’s full of sisterhood, it’s full of surprises in good ways. For example, the problem that you may have … I’m going to solve it, and then you see with one of the other girls, it’s like, ‘Well have you thought of it this way? Have you thought this other way?’ Girls help you,” she said.

Joy said she has been doing well in school and is in an advanced placement class. Her goal is to attend college and study business management.

“I know I can advocate for myself,” she said. “Being in HomeWorks gives you the chance to give our best to school. I have the information I need to do that, which most people my age lack. The sky is the limit.”

Joy’s father, Rueben Ngaruiya, heard about the HomeWorks program when his daughter was in middle school. He said during the COVID pandemic many students, including his daughter, suffered significant learning loss in math and other subjects, and this program has been the perfect solution.

“I gave them a girl, I’m getting a very mature young woman back,” he said. “I’m very happy about what the program has done for her, I’m very excited.”

Joy’s roommate, Chobe, 15, is starting her second year at HomeWorks, and will serve as a peer leader to an incoming freshman. She said she feels safer than she used to at home and spends more time on her studies. She added that she’s excited to be called a scholar.

“Being a student, you attend school, you do all your schoolwork, follow the rules at school. But a scholar, it’s more work and more effort. I would definitely say a scholar is more a bit of independency,” she said.

She said having an intense focus on academics can sometimes be stressful, but it’s worthwhile.

“Since I got the hang of it and used to it, I really enjoy it honestly,” she said.

This past semester, Chobe was in several advanced placement classes.

“Standing up for yourself can change your identity, who you are as a person,” she said. “Some people might agree with you or disagree with you, but everybody has a voice and they should always speak their mind about how they feel.”

Vilma Jimenez, chief operating officer at HomeWorks Trenton, said 100% of program graduates go on to attend college, and last year their combined average GPA was 3.53, compared to a 2.33 average in Trenton public high schools.

“We tell our scholars, ‘Our expectations are high, because we know you are capable of achieving great results,’” Jimenez said. “We are supporting our scholars while they are in our program, but also we keep that strong connection with them and support them through their post-secondary pathway journey.”

Michelle Gbelama Okore, the program’s interim house director who oversees the dormitory at HomeWorks, said that most of the girls are shy and nervous when they arrive.

“But we create a safe space and a culture that invites everyone and allow them to really speak their mind and feel free to share what they feel,” she said.

She said the scholars are not allowed to use their cell phones during programming, and the phones are turned in at 10 p.m. to make sure everyone gets enough sleep.

Gbelamaokore said they are intentional in their recruiting.

“We bring in girls that are likeminded and have similar goals,” she said. “They’re looking for ways to learn and grow, and in terms of creating structure and order we don’t find a lot of issues with that.”