Sitting on my luggage near the lake, I was patiently awaiting everyone to be accounted for. Staring at the water, the trees, the sky and everything else we weren’t exactly used to, Eagle’s Nest Camp was like nothing I had ever thought was real. I was accustomed to the brick buildings and concrete stoops. The Homework Club, what The Jubilee Center was called when I was growing up, opened my eyes to what seemed only imaginary.When preparing for summer camp with my Homework Club friends, we would get so excited about selling coffee in the early hours of the morning outside of All Saints Church. Even though the weather was at its coldest during those hours, we convinced ourselves that all of our hard work could only get us to Eagle’s Nest Camp faster. Once camp finished, we were willing and anxious to do it all over again the next year. The amazing volunteers and my Homework Club mentors, Laurie Wurm and Geoffrey Curtiss, taught me the significance of working toward a goal, dream, or vision; it is now a value that I cherish the most as a young adult.
I remember when The Homework Club put on its first fashion show at All Saints Church to raise money for the club. It was a great for us to spend time together with friends and family. My brothers Tyquan and Luis, cousins Taniesha and Latisha, godmother Karen and mother Maritza, all participated. My brothers were a Hip-Hop duo performing a rap classic, “Only You” by 112, featuring Notorious B.I.G. My cousins performed a dance routine to a 90’s classic by Rhythm and Blues artist, Case. My godmother and mom assisted with wardrobe, hair, and makeup. I walked the stage in an emerald green gown. It was one of the first activities I remember The Homework Club doing outside of the community room located on 411 Marshall Drive. That night, I was so proud to be apart of MY after-school program. I knew that everything we had done in preparation paid off in the end. The show we put on was only the beginning of our journey of breaking out of our shells and opening our eyes to opportunities as well as the Club’s journey to becoming what it is today, The Jubilee Center. The Club gave everyone in my family something to positive to be apart of.
Hoboken’s housing projects, where I was born and raised until the age of 10, had very little to offer my family and I until The Homework Club came along. The Club introduced us to people, places, and most importantly, choices, that we were not previously exposed to. Through this program, we were working toward a better future and inspiring others to do the same. The people we met, like Laurie and Geoff, along with the opportunity to volunteer, put the spark in my mother to pursue her education and turn what she loved to do into a profession. She is now the program director of a group home that houses kids who are from the Department of Children and Family Services in St. Cloud, Florida.
When I turned ten, my mother made the brave decision to move away, far away from the environment we struggled in. We moved to Orlando, Florida, where I experienced bitter sweet emotions of missing my friends, relatives and The Homework Club. At the same time, I was happy to be in a new and beautiful city. As soon as we settled into Orlando, my life changed. Every decision I made was influenced by trying to get back the positive energy I had in Hoboken with The Homework Club. Thus, I began participating in extracurricular activities and being involved in my community. I even auditioned for a performing arts high school where I majored in Technical Theatre and earned my diploma! My life became more productive than it had ever been. The Homework Club allowed me to realize that there was more out there for me.
At sixteen years old, I began volunteering at the new and improved, might I add beautiful and impressive, Jubilee Center, with all of its new faces! It was the summer of my sophomore year in high school. While volunteering, I noticed the same values that were taught to me, were being imparted to the new children at the center. Everything I learned from preparing and attending Eagle’s Nest Camp, these Jubilee children were learning at that very moment. They were being inspired by some of the same activities, people and field trips that I experienced. I would not have the foresight for what I will share with you next . . . my preparing other children with whom I am related by blood or by love to get ready for their own camp experience at Camp Linwood Mcdonald! At two separate times, I helped my 11-year-old cousin and my best friend’s sister, whom I consider my own sister, prepare for camp. I knew exactly what these children meant when they told me they were excited and anxious about getting on that bus to make their travels to camp.
There is a process that The Jubilee Center begins by taking children under its wing. Once they encourage children, the kids continue that same process throughout the rest of their lives. I did. Everything that I accomplished and worked toward involved a process. The uplifting influence and guidance of The Jubilee Center continues to take me up the right path. My path now takes me up a road at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, NC, as a Communication major, Journalism and Women’s Gender Studies minor. The first in my family to attend college, I plan to write to be a television and/or radio personality. As I continue my walk on that path, I try to inspire others on my way, and I thank The Jubilee Center for this productive path which takes me to better and better places in my mind, spirit, and heart. Won’t you join us on this path?
By Corvaya Jefferies
