Inspiring Homeless Teen Scholar No Longer Homeless

The Long Island teen whose story of academic excellence while her family fell into homelessness was back in the news yesterday—Suffolk County officials presented Samantha Garvey, her parents and two siblings with keys to a new house! The home, which is being rented to low-income families by Suffolk County, has three bedrooms and was offered to the Garveys after Samantha's story was featured on the front page of Newsday. The Brentwood High School senior said, "I was homeless, and I didn't have a house, and because of the kindness of all these strangers, I do—I have a house! I couldn't have gotten here without education—you make the best of it because it's the end to so many things."

Garvey was selected as an Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist—one of 300 across the country—and she told Newsday that her family was kicked out of their home during their holidays (her parents fell behind on rent, after having job and financial difficulties following a car accident). She said that the contest and her work "motivates me to do better. I do well and I pursue my passion because it’s what I have and it’s a way out, you know, and it’ll lead to better things." Garvey's drive inspired an outpouring of support, plus a $50,000 college scholarship from AT&T and an invite to the State of the Union address from Rep. Steve Israel. But perhaps most gratifying was having her story get her family out of a shelter and into a home, reuniting them with their pets (she was worried their dog would have to be euthanized because they had to put him in a pound).

Newsday reports, "County officials have said the Garveys did not receive special treatment. Gregory Blass, commissioner of the county Department of Social Services, said earlier this month that the Suffolk doesn't keep lists of people in waiting, and no one was cast aside for the Garveys to be placed in the home. The agency matches families and individuals with homes as soon as dwellings become available, based on a variety of factors, he said. As do all tenants of the five properties, Samantha's parents, Leo and Olga Garvey, will pay 30 percent of their total income in rent, minus the cost of utilities, Calcaterra said. Leo Garvey drives a cab and Olga Garvey works as a nurse's aide, officials said." Deputy Social Services Commissioner Edward Hernandez told the Daily News, "It’s perfect timing. The house opened up while they were in the shelter. "They’'re exactly the type of family that is eligible for this program. They can stay until they don't need it anymore.”"

Garvey did not make it to the final round of the Intel competition. She's currently just "grateful" for all the support she's received.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 29, 2012 11:45 AM

Comments [rss]

robingee

How did I know there would be people here with bad things to say about this situation?

OleS

What a terribly misguided girl. Someone should have told her that the real way to make a difference is to camp out in a park and play drums.

robingee

Beeeeecause that's all the OWS people do. Aaaaaand they are totally wrong about corporate corruption. Got it.

Jessica Jones

It's a good way to get angry without actually having to hold Obama responsible for any of it.

robingee

Oh, I know. Obama totally was responsible for companies giving jobs away overseas, CEOs getting huge bonuses while employees are homeless, and the whole Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae thing. He did it all. And also health insurance companies being sneaky thieves. All Obama!

aspiringrapper

They may not be wrong & not by a longshot, but they're hardly making an impact & how good is their drumming, anyway?

robingee

Everyone can make an impact, drumming or not. Are we still arguing about this?

aspiringrapper

Everyone can, but have they? Not so much.

Again, not to be on topic or anything, but it's great things worked out for this young woman.

curly4

Suffolk County officials presented Samantha Garvey, her parents and two siblings with keys to a new house!That sounds great! Very tuchie feelie! Now let us come down to earth. Did the county also pay the taxes (local, state, and federal)? Now there is not only property taxes but also income taxes. If they were homeless are they going to be able to pay the taxes and utilities. This family very well may be worse off than they were before (the house).
I would like to see some news media do a followup on them in say October and then a year later.

Spirit of 76

"The home, which is being rented to low-income families by Suffolk County"

"Samantha's parents, Leo and Olga Garvey, will pay 30 percent of their
total income in rent, minus the cost of utilities"

"They can stay until they don't need it anymore."

It's always a good idea to read a story completely and understand it before trying to be a wiseguy. It's also not a new house.

norman stansberry

You know there are lots of homeless families that have a child that excels in schools and other families that are homeless and there child or sibling needs intense medical care. How it is fair to anyone in the Social System to just be bumped into a house. Here in Washington state it they allow only certain amount of people to register for SECTION 8 which is low income houseing. There is people that have been on the waiting list for low income housing for 3 plus years there not just getting "bumped up to the top of the list". Where is the equality that the Social Services for low income step into play. Good for Samantha for studying hard at school, her parents one of them is a nurses aide and there LOW INCOME. B.S.

Jessica Jones

Here in Manhattan, Section 8 housing has a parking lot. A parking lot for your car. In Manhattan. Something middle-class people can only dream of.

Midnight Fapper

The thing is, only 1,839 people applied to the ITS in 2012. Being one of 300 finalists isn't really much of an achievement.

I wholehartedly agree with your statement, it's absolutely absurd these people are bumped to the front of the line.

Spirit of 76

You contradict yourself. If it's as easy as you think, why wouldn't there be more competitors? If something is easy, more people join in. At the other extreme, look at how many millions of people participate in any given sweepstakes, which have virtually no barriers to entry. I suspect you don't even have any inkling of just what needs to be submitted in order to enter any kind of competition like this. It's a lot more than just fill out a form and mail it in.

Midnight Fapper

No. You really do just fill out a form and mail it in, here's a complete list of requirements: http://sciserv.org/Sts/student...

With a 1 in 6 chance of becoming a finalist, this is the academic equivalent of winning a coupon for a free small coke with your next order at McDonalds.

The only reason this is «news» is because the girl's a minority.

Here's a copy of the rules:

Any student who is enrolled in and attending their last year
of secondary school (public, private, or parochial) in the
United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, American
Samoa, Wake and Midway Islands, and the Marianas; orAny American student (a United States citizen) enrolled in
their last year of secondary school attending:
a Department of Defense Dependents School or an accredited
overseas American or International School; ora foreign school as an exchange student; ora foreign school because his/her parent(s) are temporarily
working and living abroad.

Entrants must have completed the high school courses required
for college applications and must not
have entered any previous STS. Check with a counselor to verify;
have them complete Part IV.Sons and daughters of Society for Science & the Public employees, Science
Talent Search Evaluators or Judges are not eligible to enter
the Science Talent Search.

Spirit of 76

And you are again guilty of selective reading. How about this part of your supposedly "simple" form?

Each entry must include the STS Entry Form. Students must complete Parts I and II. Part III must be completed by one (but no more than three) teacher/advisor(s). Part IV must be completed by the guidance office and signed by the principal and submitted in a sealed envelope that also contains an official signed/sealed copy of the student’s high school transcript and standardized test scores to-date. (SAT, ACT, etc.)

Do you think any of these adults would sign off on your entry if you, like most high school students, didn't have a ghost of a chance because your work isn't up to the standards of the competition? That they don't have better things to do than to waste time filling out these applications for any student that comes along and says they want to enter?

This competition is for the best of the best. But I don't expect someone who calls himself "Midnight Fapper" to understand what kind of effort that would entail.

Spirit of 76

What part of "they don't keep a waiting list" is difficult to understand? This is not Section 8, which is a federal program. As it says above, it's a county program where people are offered homes to rent based on a number of factors. I suspect those factors include the willingness and ability to get back on their feet as soon as possible and return to unsubsidized housing, the number of people in the household, etc. In fact, one of the requirements was that they had to be employed to be eligible. Are you going to give a three-bedroom house to one long-term unemployed person for the next few years just because he happens to be at the top of some list? And FYI, nurse's aides don't make very much. You're confusing them with registered nurses or nurse practitioners.

Dead Himmler

No offense dude but this is a New York City site. Please stick to your own people of the northwest and kindly go away.

whitecastlerock

they get a house?

Randolph Crawford

Read the article. They get to rent a house. "Samantha's parents, Leo and Olga Garvey, will pay 30 percent of their total income in rent, minus the cost of utilities". It's an ongoing rent aid program for which the family qualified. That said, I do suspect they were bumped up the list because of the daughter's fame. On the other hand, can you think of a better reason to bump a family up that list? So I say, good luck to them.

whitecastlerock

I read the article, and I stand by my question. A house?

Malcolm Migacz

Suffolk doesn't keep lists of people in waiting, What the heck . Is that a really their way of being selective ? How the heck they can get away with that... i know we don't have a list .. !

jisnotused

She can live with me if it doesn't work out.

aspiringrapper

Good for her.

e non

what a remarkable young girl; and family -- who allowed her to pursue her passion in light of all their difficulties. and props to the outpouring of support they've received.

robingee

Good for them!!

TWaller

Wow. Giving public assistance to a family whose child is going to contribute positively to society. What a novel idea.

(It'll never catch on).

tsol

Like the kids at the Walt Whitman and Ingersoll projects that throw bricks off of bridges at cyclists?

TWaller

Now, now... those are great kids, just like the manly thug-boys who threw a shopping cart onto that woman at Target. Don't you DARE try to make them take care of themselves!!!

Jessy Smith

because everyone who resides in a project is a degenerate? i don't think so, I know plenty of people with means who can't scrape two IQ points together to make a third.