OSU students lead tutor service for homeless
The circumstances that bring young adults into the Star House near the University District vary from person to person, but they all share one thing in common: They need help.
After all, whether they have an addiction, come from a broken home or can’t afford a place of their own, there’s a reason they’ve sought out the shelter for homeless youth in the first place.
Beyond giving them a warm bed to sleep, though, getting them to accept the help they need for the long term can be a challenge. Ohio State University students Dan Lesman and Andrew Hu — who lead a volunteer service called Pass the Class — have made it their mission to extend that helping hand, whether it’s academic tutoring or learning important life skills.
“We convince people that they could use help,” said Lesman, of Dublin. “Most people in this situation do need some degree of help.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Lesman, Hu and their team of volunteers are simply going over algebra problems. Rather, they assist the youth ages 14 to 24 in applying for jobs, obtaining driver’s licenses, earning GEDs, and overcoming whatever obstacles are standing between them and long-term successes.
“People at the Star House, they do want to do something better in the future,” said 21-year-old Hu, a North Dakota native.
Lesman, 19, a sophomore, and Hu, both biomedical science majors at Ohio State, began tutoring youth at the Star House last November. After recognizing the service’s potential, they established Pass the Class as a student organization in March.
Caleb Alexander, a homeless 19-year-old who has been coming to the Star House for about a year, never took his school work as seriously as he could at Central Crossing High School in Grove City. But now that the aspiring firefighter is studying at Columbus State Community College, he’s become more motivated.
It helps, he said, to have people like Hu and Lesman who believe in him.
“They really want you to succeed,” said Alexander, who works with the tutors up to five days a week on coursework in subjects from math to English.
“It’s really helped me get my (grade-point average) up.”
Youngstown resident Gabby Eberly was one of the original volunteers. The second-year neuroscience major at Ohio State did some tutoring in high school and was immediately intrigued when she saw a flyer for Pass the Class in her residence hall.
“I thought it was cool how they were helping people who were maybe not in the best situation,” Eberly, 19, said. “They don’t have access to a lot of the resources that some of the other people might have.”
She spends about an hour and a half every week at the Star House, where she’s helped young adults with a variety of tasks, whether it be researching colleges or setting up their first email accounts.
“We’re helping them with what they really need in order to get where they want to go and not just random stuff they need to pass a class,” Eberly said.
The club officially evolved into a registered nonprofit in July, and it now has 35 volunteers.
Officials at the Star House, where four Pass the Class volunteers are stationed every day of the week, said they value the outreach effort.
“So many of our youth are disenfranchised,” said Lamar Peoples, the shelter’s outreach partnership specialist. “Youth can connect with Dan and Andrew, who are the same age as them and can help them through some tough situations.”
But before they’re ready for that, Lesman and Hu must train the incoming volunteers on what to expect. Because many of the youth at the shelter come from difficult circumstances, not all readily trust the motives of a stranger. Others simply aren’t ready to admit they need help.
“Tutoring at the Star House, it’s very rewarding, but it’s a difficult thing,” Lesman said. “They’re going to sometimes reject you or the idea of being tutored or helped.”
Rather than offering tutoring services right away, the volunteers have found that the best method is to simply talk to the youth at the Star House and build a connection before attempting to remedy a situation.
“Some people just don’t want to do it and they never change their minds,” Eberly said. “Others are a little hesitant at the beginning but once they get to know you they’re a lot more receptive.”
All the volunteers said they’ve had meaningful experiences. Lesman assisted a young man in creating a résumé so he could apply for his first-ever job at Walmart; Hu listened to an aspiring, albeit insecure, songwriter perform his music; Eberly helped several people study for their driver’s exams; and volunteer Megan Halloran sewed a dress for a transgender woman to wear to the Columbus Pride Festival this summer.
Such interactions, they say, drive home a simple truth: though the volunteers and homeless youth have fundamentally different backgrounds, they have more in common than not.
“I think it really puts things into perspective,” said Halloran, 19, a second-year neuroscience major at Ohio State.
Following its success at the Star House, Pass the Class has begun expanding into other areas of central Ohio. Hu and Lesman are working with officials at Independence High School on the Southeast Side to offer a similar service to at-risk students later this school year.
And they’ve partnered with the Franklin Manor Apartments on the Southwest Side to offer an online academic tutoring service to interested youth residents. Both Hu and Halloran are each tutoring a student at the apartments, which are federally subsidized.
Halloran uses Google Hangouts to help a high school sophomore with geometry coursework. They’ve only had two weekly online meetings so far, but Halloran has already bonded with the student.
Like Eberly, Halloran began volunteering with Pass the Class last year. In addition to this year’s online tutoring, she continues to volunteer once a week at Star House.
“It really builds confidence for these youths,” the Dublin resident said. “I love it.”
Lesman and Hu are seeking funding to continue growing the organization. And though Hu is graduating in 2019, he’s already thinking of ways to stay involved with the program.
“I really enjoy the relationships and connections I get to build with the people (at the Star House),” Hu said. “They are just people like us; they just have different circumstances.”