Formerly homeless teen role model Posted on July 27th
Standing in a room full of homeless teenagers yesterday, Nicholas Shanks was hopeful that he could be a role model.
“I really do hope I can help them some way, by setting an example,” said Shanks, a friendly, soft-spoken 18-year-old who overcame homelessness in his high school years to become his class valedictorian.
Shanks, who graduated from Martin Luther King High School this year with a 3.91 GPA, was at work yesterday as a counselor at the Traveler’s Aid Society’s summer program, a camp for teens who have experienced homelessness. “It sounds like some of them really do appreciate what I’ve done,” Shanks said of the 45 children in the program at the Kirkbride Center at 49th and Arch Streets in West Philadelphia.
What he has done has brought him national and local media attention in recent days. Just yesterday he was featured in a segment on Good Morning America.
Two days ago, Shanks got the best news of all: Foundation Inc., the nonprofit that manages King High, offered to bankroll his college tuition.
“It was a relief,” he said of the money. “I really never expected to see that happen so fast.”
For his mother, Sherri Newton, the news was the answer to her prayers.
“I’ve been praying for this for the longest time,” she said recalling how she dropped to her knees in thanks when Nicholas told her. “God is so good,” she added. “Thank everybody that’s going to be helping Nicholas.”
Shanks plans to matriculate this fall at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where he wants to major in animation and media arts. He hopes to become a video game designer.
Art was an escape for Shanks years ago when he was living in a crowded homeless shelter. He was 14 when his family could no long afford the rent on its Northeast Philadelphia apartment. The family was forced to take refuge at the Mount Airy Stenton Family Manor in Germantown, said Newton.
For two years, Shanks, Newton and Newton’s mother shared a cramped gymnasium with about 30 other families, Newton said. Drawing - “creating worlds,” as Shanks put it - allowed him to escape the tiny confines.
“When I was in the shelter, it was boring a lot of times,” Shanks said. “I had a CD player, paper and a pencil, and that got me through most of the months.”
Shanks and Newton now live in transitional housing in Kensington. But the family still faces problems. The lease is up in October, and the family does not have a new place lined up yet.
Newton, who battled drug addiction and unemployment for years, said she has been clean for 17 months. She was recently laid off as a teaching assistant and is looking for employment.
“It’s scary,” Newton said. “I just want to know where we’re going to move.”
Her son is relying on the optimism that saw him through tough times before.
Shanks said he does not often think about his days in the shelter unless he is around people with a similiar history.
“I would not necessarily say I’m reliving my past,” he said, “but if I ran into a situation where I hear something about a similar past, I might be like, ‘Yeah, I know how that’s like.’ “
Steven Golden, another teen in the summer program, has a very similar past. He’s known Shanks for three years. The two are the same age, but, because of academic troubles, Golden is a year behind in school.
Seeing Shanks has motivated Golden to commit to his studies.
“He’s showed me I need to do this to succeed,” said Golden, a senior at Fitzsimons High School in North Philadelphia. “Seeing where he’s at now, from where we both were, he has inspired me.”
Mel Monk, director of the summer program, said that once teens become homeless, “education is the first thing that takes a nosedive.” The teens deal with embarassment, he said. Sometimes losing their home means they have to travel across the city to get to school.
Shanks was able to persevere, Monk said, because of his internal drive and the support of the people around him, including his mother and teachers.
“They’ve got to have a person in their life telling them they can do it,” he added.
Monk hopes Shanks can show the younger children that they can get into college, too.
“Nicholas is a model example,” he said. “He’s been through a lot, but he’s maintained.”
Spasoje Jovanovic, 17, a former camper and now the administrative assistant at the program, which is teaching the teens about marine biology, said Shanks is an inspiration to the others.
“He’s proof that it’s possible,” said Jovanovic, who is enrolled at the Community College of Philadelphia for the fall.
Shanice Johnson, 15, has lived in four different homes with her family this year alone. She expects to be in yet another in a few months, she said.
Nonetheless, Johnson has been able to keep a 3.6 GPA. She said Shanks’ story gives her courage to keep working hard at school through all of the tumult at home.
“He was in transitional housing, I was in transitional housing,” said Johnson, who wants to become a surgeon. “He’s someone I look up to.”
Contact staff writer Ashwin Verghese at 215-854-4319 or averghese@phillynews.com.