Anthony has big plans - and he’s moving ahead, thanks to La Casa Norte!
La Casa Norte helps youth like Anthony
What a difference a year makes when you’ve got new opportunities and new reasons to be hopeful.
A year ago, Anthony Rocquemore quit high school and left home. He had lived alone with his father for three years after his mother was disabled by a stroke. But fed up with unending abuse, Anthony followed the advice of school counselors – he called 311 for help moving out.
“If you stay in that environment, it could turn into a situation that’s worse,” he points out.
A social worker took Anthony to a police station to file a report, then placed him in a short-term youth shelter not far from his South Side home. Two months later, Anthony was moved to a transitional housing program called Solid Ground.
La Casa Norte’s transitional housing facility serves 16 male-identifying youth, ages 18 to 21. The three-story Solid Ground building is located near the agency’s Humboldt Park community center and Pierce House youth apartments. It was one of Chicago’s first transitional housing programs for unaccompanied youth who are homeless and living on their own.
Anthony, now 19, was grateful to be given his own room at Solid Ground. With meals and living expenses covered, Anthony says he can focus on following the advice of his Solid Ground case managers, Katie and Ashley.
Number one?
That meant returning to high school to finish his senior year.
“They always push school. If you’re not in school, working. They want everybody in the program to be doing something. It’s great to be in an environment where everybody has plans.”
He graduated last spring from West Town alternative high school and began classes this fall at Harold Washington College, where Anthony also works part-time. Recently admitted to Northeastern Illinois University through its ROTC program, he wants to transfer to NEIU next year.
Anthony has big plans.
He’s also studying for a private pilot’s license, working almost every week with the aviation teacher he had during his three years at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy. Combining aviation studies with college courses in business and history, Anthony plans to earn a bachelor’s degree before commissioning into the U.S. Air Force.
“I think there should be more programs like Solid Ground through this whole entire city. There’s a lot of kids who struggle through abusive situations. This program makes it easier for somebody going through that to find resources.”
“Solid Ground changed me in many ways,” Anthony adds, smiling. “I get to focus more. I don’t have to worry about so many situations like I used to. I can focus on my goals. My life is going in the right direction.”
You can hear from Anthony and others at La Casa Norte in our 20th anniversary video posted on YouTube!
Thank you for supporting La Casa Norte, this year celebrating 20 years of service to Humboldt Park and Southwest Side neighborhoods. Our programs help secure the futures of unaccompanied youth and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Chicago.
- Photos by Carlos Medina and story by Anne Bowhay