'From gutter to glory'

J'can moves from eating out of New York dumpsters to professor and saviour to troubled girls

Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter

For months she lived on the streets of Queens, New York, not sure where her next meal would come from. She was a mother at 16 years old, an 'illegal alien' in the United States, begging for small change at a stoplight in Brooklyn and later selling drugs to survive.

It was never the life she envisioned, while growing up a Pentecostal church girl in Franklin Town, Kingston, in a loving home with her grandparents. But Karlene Richardson's life spiralled out of control months after she arrived in New York as a 15-year-old.

She knew she had hit rock bottom when her dinner routinely consisted of the leftovers from the lunch boxes construction workers dumped in the garbage at the abandoned building she and her young baby called home. At times, there was nothing to eat.

In 1986, she had left Jamaica for New York, hoping to reunite with her mother, who had migrated years before. Despite the love she felt living with her grandparents, who raised her since she was eight months old, she yearned for a mother's love.

Instead, she was roped in to be the babysitter for her mom's new family, and later kicked out on to the streets with her young child. She was devastated; her idol had rejected her. Richardson says after seeking a release from God, she finally found the courage and reason to tell her story.

YOU CAN RISE

"I just want to tell young girls, especially young women who come here (to the US) from Jamaica, that they can rise above their situation to become anything at all. I know because I have done it," said Richardson. "Think of a situation and I have been there. I know."

Richardson, 44, is now professor of health information at a private college in New York City.

The former Camperdown High School student, who later dropped out of high school in New York, is now also the college's assistant dean of curricular review and design, a teacher, mentor, and friend to scores of young women.

Last month, Richardson published her autobiography, From Gutter to Glory, a 325-page chronicle of the abuse and neglect she suffered at the hands of her mother, and later, her spouse, and the path she took to turn her life around. She says her circumstances were designed by God.

"I believe God had a reason He wanted me here (US), and why I had to go through all that I did. When you think about it, which embassy gives a 13-year-old a visa without their parent's consent? And why was I so driven to find my mother despite not having any support to do that and coming from a good home?" Richardson queried.

Other detours on her path helped to cement in her mind the notion that something special was at work in her life.

"I originally wanted to do physical therapy, and had been teaching at a kindergarten. In addition, I had set out to work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Glen Cove Center for Nursing in Glen Cove, NY.

"The plan was to make extra money to send home for my little brother in Jamaica," Richardson outlined.

But she was hired instead as the administrative assistant after they reviewed her résumé and thought her overqualified for the position of CNA.

YEARNED FOR MORE

Rattled by her experiences as an administrative assistant, she longed to be able to do more to enhance the lives of the residents at the nursing home.

"I wanted to be the one to be able to make changes in policy, so I researched and that's how I found out about health administration."

Richardson took some classes at a local community college, and later even more, and soon after, completed her bachelor's degree. She would eventually receive accreditation at the master's level, becoming a doctoral candidate and later college professor in 2007.

A month after she graduated, she was offered a position as instructor at ASA College. A year later, 2008, she was offered the post of subject specialist. In the third semester of her employment at ASA College, she was offered the role of programme coordinator. But at the core of her being, despite her success, was a need to connect lost girls with hope.

"During my employment at ASA - five years - I realised that each day in the classroom, I was becoming a little more than professor. I was mentor; I was counsellor. Situated, as we were, in downtown, a lot of the students we saw were persons just looking for second chances - just as I had been doing. Each day I saw me in all of my women students.

"I realised then that there was something missing from the college - a support system for women - and so I created a sorority, Nu Alpha Mu, in 2010. We were a strong body of women who would be there for each other."

Understanding the basic needs of her students - some of them young mothers - there were no sorority fees and no yearly dues. In instances, her students received tangible support.

HELPING GIRLS FIND THEMSELVES

Richardson says today her mission is to help women and girls find themselves, maybe not even having to take the rough path she had.

"I have a burden for young women and little girls. I believe women are so powerful, we have the power to bring kings to their knees, we have the potential to do so much if we tap into even 10 per cent of our potential."

These days she offers her services - mentoring, lecturing and giving motivational talks - wherever and to whoever needs it, often for free.

"Money is not an object. If I can reach just one person - not the whole world, just one person - then everything that I did or went through was not in vain," said Richardson.

"Anyone can do anything in life. Anyone can assume the position they so desire in this world. We only know of one journey through this life, you have to make it count. You have to make that impression, even if it is one life at a time. Don't worry about the naysayers, just focus on what your next step will be."