Congratulations to our May 2019 Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program graduate! Through grant funding received from the Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) and Family ROSS Service Coordinators programs, Tulsa Housing Authority (THA) staffs additional service coordinators that offer case management services based on public housing residents’ selected goals. These coordinators complete a household profile on all participants in the program and goals are set according to each individual resident’s needs. Coordinators provide assistance with goals such as work and scholastic education, job placement, individualized counseling, homeownership education and opportunities for a pathway out of public housing. For more information on the program click here.
Tanaya Edwards graduated the FSS program in May 2019. Rather than having her FSS program coordinator, Tanya, read a summary of her experience in the program, Tanaya opted to share something she wrote herself:
“In life I have always found a way to beat the odds. I realized I was a walking statistic born into poverty and I have been trying to work my way out ever since.
Being a teen mom, I often wondered why life had to be so hard, as if this life was destined for me simply because I had no one to teach me there is a different way of doing things.
During my first year of service as an AmeriCorps member I was a family and youth leader where I taught classes on self-sufficiency and I saw the joy it would bring to those who were on the giving end of assistance.
I have always been an advocate for self-sufficiency and learning how to dismantle the bondage of generational poverty. Self-sufficiency is not only a goal; it’s the ultimate way of life. My hope is that I am a step closer to achieving that goal.
I want to thank the Tulsa Housing Authority and The Family Self-Sufficiency Program for this opportunity. It is my hope that with the funds I have escrowed I am a step closer to becoming a homeowner as well as a business owner.”