Who are Our Clients?
National Student Partnerships opens its doors to a diverse range of community members in 15 offices across the country. NSP has no eligibility criteria. Our clients could include anyone from the person sleeping in the street across from an NSP office to someone with an advanced degree who was recently laid off. Most of NSP’s clients come into our offices looking for employment or housing, and leave with much more, like referrals for job training or child care, the listening and support they may not receive anywhere else, and a new network of personal advocates to help them reach their goals. NSP clients range from people with disabilities re-entering the workforce, recent immigrants working to support their families, people with criminal records or histories of substance abuse looking for a fresh start, to families who lost their home in a fire. We serve anyone looking for one-on-one assistance on his or her road to personal success.

"I didn't understand there were helpful resources to keep me from falling under."

Read Trey's story.

"Perhaps his most life-changing success, however, occurred when the Social Security Administration informed him that he was finally approved for disability assistance after a four-year struggle."

Read Robert's story.

"Juan Ramos stepped off prison grounds for the first time in eight years and vowed to change his life."

Read Juan's story.

Client Success Stories

Trey Caldeyro
Trey Caldeyro has chartered a Magellan-like course in life. With youthful abandon, he has sampled many jobs and cities, and with somber maturity, he has faced difficult challenges. Born and raised in North Carolina, Trey graduated from high school and set out for the Big Apple. At 18, he began studying architecture at New York City College of Technology. Unable to balance a full-time job and academics, he became homeless and was dismissed from school. "I didn't understand there were helpful resources to keep me from falling under," says Trey.

He accepted a job as a maritime marine in Florida with perks including travel and trade skill building. "I was young, and seeing new places thrilled me," he says. However, his carefree life capsized when he learned his mother had breast cancer. He rushed back home to take care of her, but she was moved to hospice care. "I didn't know that meant I was about to lose her," he says. Tragically, his younger brother was murdered one month before their mother died.

After the funerals, Trey moved to Mexico for a year and worked as an architectural contractor. He decided to return and re-construct his life in New York. With newfound direction, Trey discovered the NSP-Bronx office. "You have to have a plan," he says. "My mother taught me that, and it is the key to my success today." In his first meetings with NSP volunteers, Trey identified his goals and prepared a budget, which was "eye-opening".

He first tackled employment. After a focused job search with NSP volunteers, a Yacht company hired him as a deckhand. Next, he concentrated on housing. Five weeks of saving enabled him to move into an apartment. With this stability, his journey came full circle. NSP helped Trey re-enroll in his former school, and now he is pursuing his architectural degree. One night, however, he found himself a victim of false arrest. He called NSP seeking a character witness. Two volunteers not only contacted the appropriate authorities to advocate for him but went to the jail to show their support. Says Trey, "They told me someone was here to visit me.I assumed they were mistaken. I said, 'there's no one that would come see me.' But, I guess I was wrong."

Trey considers the volunteers some of his true friends. "NSP helped make my success here possible. They believed in me and made it easy to ask for support. This model really works," he says. "College students should run the country!

Robert Cannon
In 2000, Robert Cannon's life changed dramatically. His mother, with whom he lived, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and moved into an assisted living community, leaving Cannon without a home. He was forced to move in to a "tent city" for the homeless erected on "the Green," New Haven, CT's main downtown park. The double burden of his mother's illness and his subsequent homelessness caused Cannon an immense amount of anxiety and kept him from securing regular employment. It was during this difficult time that Cannon learned of NSP's services from a former client. He attended several introductory meetings with an NSP volunteer and has returned almost daily since that time.

In an organization with new student leaders each year, Cannon remains a stable fixture of the NSP-New Haven community. Since his initial visit, Cannon has seen a parade of volunteers, Site Coordinators, and Summer Directors come through the office and has assisted in the process of orienting new volunteers and clients alike. Cannon notes, "Even through the transitions, I still get the same great help!"

Through NSP, Cannon was able to locate a GED class and received his GED in the fall of 2004. He also found assistance in writing his first resume and searching for employment, gaining valuable computer skills along the way. Perhaps his most life-changing success, however, occurred in August when the Social Security Administration informed him that he was finally approved for disability assistance after a four-year struggle. Site Coordinator Robin Hodges accompanied Cannon to the bank to open a new account and deposit his check of nearly $2000. With this money and a regular monthly disability payment, Cannon will most likely be able to locate permanent housing in the coming weeks and "find a nice place I can call home." However, he is quick to note that even after he gets a home, he will continue working with NSP. While Cannon still feels the weight of his mother's illness very strongly, NSP volunteers have helped him through this difficult process. He says, "I feel as though the people here at NSP are like my family now."

Juan Ramos
Juan Ramos stepped off prison grounds for the first time in eight years and vowed to change his life. For a full year, however, he found himself living behind invisible bars. Juan spent his nights in a local shelter and his days searching for work. Despite his strong work background in maintenance and printing, Juan was rejected from jobs for which he was fully qualified when employers learned of his criminal record. "The process was so hard," says Juan. "There were days when I came out of interviews and cried like a little kid. I couldn't understand why no one would give me another chance."

Rapidly losing hope, he found NSP-Cambridge in April and began meeting with volunteers up to three times a week in search of employment. Four months of their tag-team persistence landed Juan a stable job and the income to begin thinking about living on his own. "Clients like Juan who are motivated and willing to take an active role in their job search benefit most from our services," says NSP-Cambridge Site Coordinator Monisha Sharma. "Juan was always honest about his background and consistently demonstrated how hard he was willing to work in order to get his life back on track."

In July, Sharma forged a business partnership with Mark Nickerson, General Manager of the local Days Hotel. Sharma presented Juan as an excellent candidate for a job opening within the hotel, and shortly after, Nickerson interviewed and hired Juan. "At this hotel, employees are like family. Some have been here for 40 years. So it can be difficult to bring in new members, but I knew right away that Juan would fit in perfectly," says Nickerson. He hopes other local employers will follow his lead. "The key is to educate managers that we can hire people with criminal records and keep them as good employees. You just have to be willing to make the effort and to form partnerships like the one we have with NSP."

Recently, the Massachusetts State House of Representatives asked Juan to speak about prisoners' rights. "Prison can be a revolving door for many people," Juan emphasizes. "I've seen it happen so many times, when people can't find work, they end up right back where they started." He does not know the solution to this cycle of recidivism, but he feels strongly that ex-offenders need more support as they re-enter society. Says Juan, "If it wasn't for NSP, I wouldn't be employed right now. I don't know where I'd be."