Romania native, she did not graduate any universities and came to the US with her daughter, a freshman in The Queens College. Ciriac quit her last job as an accountant half a year ago because of the personal problem.

Immigrants represent 40 percent of the New York City’s population and 43 percent of the workforce. But still, people like Ciriac, coming here from abroad experience different kind of difficulties with language, employment and finding place to live.

Mayor Micheal R. Bloomberg declared in his last State of the City address, Americans should “fix broken immigration system.”

His main argument is, that immigrants are good for the economy because they open businesses, create jobs and pay taxes. He said that newcomers are crucial to City’s success.

Ciriac had gone through hundreds of interviews to find a job. Recently she found out about StreetWise Partners Inc. through her friend who found a job with the help of this organization and could realize her career goals.

“I want to improve my interviewing skills and computer skills,” Ciriac said “I am hopeful. I think they will help me.”

StreetWise Partners Inc. is a non-profit organization that offers job-training programs for people who face multiple barriers to employment. Immigrants should qualify following criteria: low-income, at least high school diploma, legal permition to work in the US.

The job skills training program lasts one year, first three month is the most intensive part of the program, trainees meet with our mentors once a week for a couple of hours. They go through a curriculum, which covers resume preparation interview skills, networking, computer skills and during the following nine month trainees work on their six goal career work plan an individual plan of what they need to achieve.

“There are several things we do with our graduates: we take them from unemployed to employed, take them from not having any health care benefits to having health care benefits, take them from a lower salary to a higher weekly salary, take them from a job with no advancement prospects to a job with advancement prospects,” Melanie Christianson, 
Interim Executive Director in the StreetWise Partners, Inc. said,
“It’s not just straight getting them a job but put them on a path to a career”

According to the report of Department of City Planning, the working ages – 25 to 54 years – between 40 and 50 percent of all city residents in the labor force are immigrants. Immigrants comprise a majority of employed workers in manufacturing, construction, and in many service industries. The foreign-born people also have a major impact on the city’s housing: 48 percent of recently occupied housing units belong to immigrant households.

Olesya Luzinova is Alumni of a StreetWise Partners job-training program and a resident of the US for two years. “Graduating from an university in Uzbekistan I could not realize myself as a professional there; I had no opportunity, that is why I came here,” Luzinova said.

Coming to the US Luzinova experienced different obstacles in finding a job and the first one was a professional network. “Language was not a problem for me but people who come here have no professional network that they could turn to, but StreetWise Partners can give them such opportunity,” Luzinova said.

Rasheem Palmer, Client Services Manager and the person who works with StreetWise Partners for six years says that each year around 300 people come asking for the help. “Usually 40 per cent are people whose English is not their first language,” Palmer said.

On January 29, NYC Council Member Letitia James, along with elected officials, education advocates, students, teachers and parents came to rally against DOE proposed phase-out of M.S. 571 and consolidation of charter schools.

Catherine Jhung, 43, of Brooklyn came to protect her five-year-old son’s elementary school against the merger of three schools into one building. Jhung is concerned with the effect of consolidation on her five-year-old son, Shannon Jhung, who goes to the kindergarten at P.S. 9.

“The co-location will severely harm the learning environment of elementary school students at P.S. 9,” Jhung said.

On January 21, New York City Department of Education amended a proposal to add Brooklyn East Collegiate (BEC) to P.S. 9’s building, K009. The plan will require three schools to share the building until June 2013.

According to the participants of the rally, critical errors in the proposal will result in a space shortage.

Simone Hawkins, 23, Education Policy Analyst in NYC Council, 35th Council District said that there are several errors and flaws in the plan that was proposed by the DOE.

According to Jhung, DOE underestimates demand for the school from neighborhood parents, as shown by the ongoing kindergarten enrollment for fall 2011. “After only two weeks of registration through Jan. 27, 2011’s enrollment matched 2010’s total enrollment of 117,” Jhung said “Yet registration is open six more weeks.”

Protesters also mentioned the failure of the allocation of the classroom space for projected enrollment growth at P.S. 9, with the school likely be short in nine classrooms within three years. “If the school adds one kindergarten this fall, then 16 classes at P.S. 9 in 2015 will lack for classrooms,” Hawkins said.

One of the biggest problems for P.S. 9 remains a gymnasium usage. According to www.ps9brooklyn.org DOE does not consider P.S. 9’s use of the gymnasium after 3 p.m. for two different after-school programs serving over 90 families a day.

Both of these would be displaced by the middle schools’ gym classes and after-school sports needs.

Moreover conflict over library usage for students will arise after three schools will share one building. “Under the BUP, P.S. 9 classes will have an average of nine minutes each a week to use the library,” Jhung said, “Despite separation in all other realms, at breakfast, middle schoolers will mix with elementary students.”

According to James, NYC Council Member, DOE claims that Brooklyn East Collegiate cannot delay its move until 2012 or 2013. “If BEC were to stay at K343 another year, it would be in a six-story building with a total of 610 students,” James said, “At P.S. 9’s building, 920 or more students would be sharing a three-story building that is not even two-thirds the size of K343.”

According to Hawkins, Portfolio Planning, DOE’s Division which deals with school programming, inserted a clause in its proposal saying that the Chancellor reserves the right to move Brooklyn East Charter again if demand for elementary-school seats in the zone grow beyond expectations.

“Yet if this growth is at all likely – and this autumn’s kindergarten registration proves it is — then this plan risks too much disruption to too many children’s educations,” Hawkins said.

“The community knows each of these schools was never given the chance to succeed and grow,” Jhung said, “We demand that chance.”

Stuart volunteered with the Relief Bus outreach program for nine years. The Relief Bus is a mobile resource center that serves the homeless across New York City. According to Stuart, this year the number of homeless people has increased, forcing the Relief Bus to focus primarily on Harlem and the Bronx neighborhood, where Stuart lives.

According to municipal data, about 36,000 homeless people currently live in New York City.

Stuart joined the Relief Bus in January of 2001. A friend from his church suggested Stuart join the organization. “It is better to help people than to stay at home,” Stuart said.

Stuart also volunteers with his church, an activity that often makes him late joining the Relief Bus.

“I help my mom and I help my church,” Stuart said. Stuart hands out money to the homeless and helps to clean the building.

The Relief Bus team visits Harlem twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. A typical day for the volunteers starts at 7 a.m. with the cooking the vegetable-rice soup. The team also serves hot chocolate in the winter and lemonade in the summer.

Stuart spends as little time in this neighborhood as possible. “This neighborhood is bad,” Stuart said. “People here want rob you. A lot of fights take place here.”

As the Bus pulls into Harlem, the team opens the windows and starts serving food to the people who are usually already waiting in line on the sidewalk. Volunteers usually stick around to eat with the homeless make conversation and identify any other needs.

Volunteers can then refer people to the Bus’s on site counselor for more in-depth evaluation. “The Bus helps homeless physically, mentally and spiritually,” Stuart said.

From the Bus office, staff members can place people immediately into various programs with the help of their resource database. These programs can help with job and shelter searches. They can also help those addicted to drugs and alcohol. If necessary, the Bus even has areas where the homeless can take time to pray.

At the end of the day, after the Bus gets back to its home base in Elizabeth, New Jersey its time to clean up.

According to Anthony Mallamaci, the group’s New York outreach coordinator, the Relief Bus is like a “bridge linking those in need to life-changing resources including individuals with time, compassion and funds.”

The organization has become popular with a diverse group of people who want to help people. “We have 5,000 volunteers each year from all over the world,” Mallamaci said.

Commonly in one location for four hours, the Relief Bus can feed 3,000 people on a slow day. On a busy day, that number can grow to 6,000.

“Poor people, they are not subject. They have hearts and they struggle,” Stuart says “and I came here because I can make a difference.”

What was interesting for me is that site offers a forum for people’s communication. On this forum people cam disscus most interesting topics for them. Also one interesting fact that I mentioned is that site has a Photgallery, which offers you to watch some fascinating photos of our Motherland.

In general I liked this site bacause it can give you a lot of useful information about Kazakhstan. However it is needed in some improvements. 

Personally I agree with Meruyert that there mainly three kinds of community “family community”, “external community” and “personnal community”. Of course like Meruyert has said that people can’t be alone may be you just don’t see people around you and don’t want to communicate with them.