Ebony Clemmons finally reached the moment in her studies that she has always dreamed about; she became a high school senior. Unlike most of her classmates, Ebony wasn’t hanging out with friends, enjoying senior activities and making preparations for college. Instead, Ebony was serving as the main caretaker for her mother (a single mother of four children who was suffering from bone cancer) and her younger siblings. Ebony decided to forgo her senior year of high school to provide full-time care for her mother.
Unfortunately, despite Ebony’s efforts to care and support her mother, Ebony’s mother finally succumbed to bone cancer in August of 2006. “I was so depressed and distraught over losing my mother,” states Ebony. Thanks to my grandmother and my sister, I decided to enroll in the Dearborn YMCA’s Pathway to Employment Program funded by Mobile Works. The training program for out of school youth enabled Ebony to get her GED and enroll in a local technical school. Ebony is grateful for the support she has received from her teachers. She is most appreciative of the support she has received from her grandmother and her family.