In a perfect world, every Montclair State student would arrive at campus with all they could possibly need for success: a strong K-12 education, ample resources for study and activities and \u2013 of course \u2013 shelter, food and a loving and supportive family. But the unfortunate truth is that some of our students carry with them little more than dreams and determination as they embark on their higher education.<\/p>\n
The Red Hawk Fellows program was designed to address the needs of undergraduate scholars from diverse backgrounds who are identified as emancipated foster students, unaccompanied homeless students, and students from households where no immediate parental or extended family guidance is accessible. And with the support of donors including Montclair\u2019s West of Hudson Real Estate, Montclair State is providing a critical safety net for the 150 students who are part of the program.<\/p>\n
A crucial element of the program is access to all-year housing to ensure that students have safe shelter. Additional supports include 1:1 mentoring, personal development coaching and referrals to University resources ranging from career services to academic support. Life skills workshops cover topics including budgeting, healthy relationships, and how to apply to graduate school. Social activities such as field trips and \u201cfamily\u201d meals and celebrations help Fellows build healthy, long-term relationships.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing security is such an important basic need,\u201d Yolanda Alvarez, Associate Dean of Students, points out. \u201cFor the four years they are at Montclair State, Red Hawk Fellows don\u2019t have to worry about where they will live. In addition, year-round participation in residence life provides critical support for students who have no parental or immediate family guidance. Red Hawk Fellows have a platform for supporting each other. They connect, engage, and experience independence in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the owners of West of Hudson Real Estate \u2013 Irina Grobman, Susan Horowitz, Leslie Kunkin, Robin Seidon, and Maria Vecchione \u2013 supporting Red Hawk Fellows is a perfect fit in so many ways. Personal history plays a part, as does their shared mission to match every family that comes to them with the perfect home.<\/p>\n
First, the history. \u201cYears ago a colleague, Steve Matthews, asked me to help raise funds for Montclair State students who were emancipated from the foster care system,\u201d says Leslie Kunkin, Partner and Sales Associate. \u201cSteve was well known in the community. When he passed away in 2018, those of us who had just formed West of Hudson Real Estate wanted to do something special to honor him. We started out collecting gift cards at the holidays and supporting textbook drives, but in the past year we wanted to do something bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robin Seidon, Partner and Broker Associate at the firm, also recalls their initial interest in Red Hawk Fellows. \u201cWe saw such a need,\u201d she says. \u201cThese students don\u2019t have anyone to rely on. They are at risk of falling through the cracks. They are trying, and it is important to us to do what we can so that they can focus on applying themselves to their schoolwork rather than on working to provide for their most basic needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partner and Sales Associate Susan Horowitz connects her passion for the Red Hawk Fellows program to a magazine article that crossed her path years ago. \u201cThere was a piece in People<\/em> magazine about a student in Michigan who lost his parents,\u201d she recalls. \u201cHe placed a newspaper ad looking for someone to adopt him so he could stay in school.\u201d<\/p>\n She was deeply affected by the story, and when she learned about Montclair State\u2019s efforts to help young adults who have no family support, she saw an opportunity to do something meaningful. \u201cThis is a population that a lot of people don\u2019t even realize exists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI read that article as well,\u201d says Irina Grobman, Partner and Sales Associate. \u201cYou know, we all want to feel like we are in charge of our destiny, but no one can succeed without some kind of support system. For most of us, that support system is our family.\u201d<\/p>\n West of Hudson Real Estate\u2019s \u201cpeople first\u201d philosophy counters what its executives see as a corporate approach to real estate, and further explains their connection to Red Hawk Fellows. \u201cWe are in the business of helping people figure out where to plant their roots, where to raise their families,\u201d Horowitz says. \u201cBecause we feel that so deeply, we want to do what we can to help young people who don\u2019t have that basic joy and foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of friends with children who are young adults,\u201d Grobman adds. \u201cIt is frightening to imagine them trying to support themselves financially and academically, while struggling to provide for basics like shelter and food.\u201d<\/p>\n Horowitz agrees. \u201cI defy anyone \u2013 especially if you have high-school or college-age children of your own \u2013 to think about what it would be like for them to be alone in the world,\u201d she says. \u201cHow could we not<\/em> do something to help?\u201d<\/p>\n Alvarez is grateful for the West of Hudson Real Estate team\u2019s appreciation of the challenges faced by Red Hawk Fellows. \u201cIt is a wonderful thing to be able to let the students know that they are not alone, that others in the community care for them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe future of these young adults will depend a lot on what happens to them today,\u201d Kunkin says. \u201cThe Red Hawk Fellows program catches them at a crossroads and offers a long-term fix. We can help them become empowered adults.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a \u201cpeople first\u201d philosophy, West of Hudson Real Estate is dedicated to helping families put down strong roots — and the firm’s support for Red Hawk Fellows echoes that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montclair-state-university-donors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1178,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176\/revisions\/1178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}