Flint shelter helps homeless get GED

Bradley Woodruff was given the opportunity in March 2009 to start a GED program at the Shelter of Flint, an emergency and transitional housing facility for women and children.

The need was there and the Shelter had ideas about how to deal with it. Woodruff took these ideas and developed them into a program.

(The GED program provides a diploma for people who have not finished high school.)

"One of the main reasons for homelessness can be traced to a lack of education," Woodruff said.

Having a GED opens doors, from securing employment to enrolling in college, he said.

The biggest motivation for women to get their GED, Woodruff said, is the desire to go to college. Women also want to show their children the importance of an education.

Anyone staying at the Shelter who is not working and has not completed their high school education must be involved in the program. Each person is evaluated individually and works at her own pace on problem areas. Clients must put in at least eight hours a week, Woodruff said, but many put in more.

After clients have moved out of the Shelter, they are still welcome to return for GED help.

However, many who worked toward their GED with Woodruff were unable to get them — they simply did not have the $200 to take the test. With the help of a recent grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Shelter will now be able to pay for the tests. The grant will also allow the development of a literacy component for clients with a below ninth grade reading level.

Bradley Woodruff is a Flint resident and graduate of UM-Flint. As a student he worked at the UM-Flint Writing Center, and ran a peer-facilitated class that prepared him for the work he would later do with the Shelter.

Woodruff said he finds the work gratifying, and that he has learned a great deal about homelessness.

"Everyone who's there has a different reason why they're homeless," Woodruff said. "It can be as easy as losing a job."

Visit www.shelterofflint.com for more information,.