Meet Lorna

When Lorna Simon Hunte was 16 years old, she moved from Trinidad to New York, leaving behind the friends, family, and places she grew up with. That was the point. As a child, Hunte didn’t feel like she fit in with the old-fashioned culture around her. “Happiness is not doing whatever you want,” she advises, “It’s the freedom to be whoever you are.” So she left to find her happiness.

On October 16, 2019, Lorna Simon Hunte arrived at America Works of New York (AWNY) in Brooklyn to speak with current America Works clients. In a classroom of nearly 30 clients, Lorna connected with them by talking about when she had been in their shoes or more accurately, their seats.

Lorna is a former client who had been referred to America Works for job readiness training and job placement services, just like her audience. She was returning to the place that had helped turn her life around to share her story with those following in her footsteps.

Those footsteps lead down a path that is anything but straight. Lorna may have left Trinidad to in search of where she fit in, but actually finding it was not easy. After going from job to job, sometimes multiple at one time, she made a deliberate choice to find a career that would not only sustain her and her family but make her feel like she was doing something worthwhile.

The event moderator, AWNY Trainer Charles DeVeaux, asked her about what was going through her mind at that point. “I told myself, ‘It will be better,’” she answered. “Why did you feel that way?” he followed-up. “Because I had to.” Her first stop was cosmetology school and working at a Bronx hair salon. After making a mistake while washing a client’s hair, she realized that it wasn’t for her. Next, she became a CNA.

During a time when she couldn’t find work, Lorna went on public assistance to support her two children. She was sent to America Works of New York (AWNY), where she met Phil Jones, an AWNY Corporate Representative at the time. Within a month, Jones connected her with a job opportunity at Royal Health Care. Of course, it wasn’t as simple as that.

When asked about her attitude upon arriving at AWNY, she turned to the audience of current America Works clients and admitted, “I didn’t want to be there. To be honest, I just wanted a job.” That was the first day. As she returned for the next day, and the day after that, she found that not only did it get easier, but the environment around her changed. She listened and interacted with fellow clients who were facing similar situations.

The trainers treated them with respect, dignity, and specifically, understanding. Eventually, the classes made an impact. Lorna’s writing and interview skills improved, as did her resume, and she gained a self-awareness of who she was and what she wanted to do. The skills she learned at AWNY helped her interview with Royal Health Care and land the job. Since that day, Simon has stayed in contact with Jones, who is now Senior Vice President of America Works.

But she never went back to America Works as a client again. Her new position sent her to unfamiliar neighborhoods to recruit people for Royal’s services (Health Care Insurance), By the second month, she wasn’t just tired of standing around all day asking people if they wanted health insurance she was also just tired. “I told myself, ‘I am too cute for this,’” she recounted, to laughter.

But she persevered, because she had to. “I was a single parent,” Simon explained, “I had to do what I had to do.” In this moment, the clients in the room went from being a passive audience to an integral part of a conversation. Nods and sounds of agreement echoed throughout the room.

After persevering, something changed. Her numbers improved and she found herself enjoying the work.

As she walked around different communities and talked with people about what was going on with them, their lives, and their children, she discovered that her strength lies in her ability to communicate and understand those around her.

Because her job lined up with her skills, it felt like she could make a difference. It felt like she fit in. Today, Lorna is using her journey to encourage others to make their own success stories.

One of the ways she’s doing that is by taking a tour of America Works offices to speak to current clients. Another is through her current role as a manager of a team. “If I’m busy leading you from the forefront, I can’t see if you fall by the wayside.

That’s my style of leadership.” As a leader of more than 40 people, she aims to create an environment with open lines of communication, understanding, and respect ”I’m big on respect,” she says, “Which means that I give it.”

It’s an environment that sounds similar to the one created by AWNY staff and trainers, that helped Lorna change her perspective all those years ago.

During the event, one of the clients stood up and moved in closer to hear Lorna better. Farther in the back, a bench of mothers whispered amongst themselves. Not because they were distracted, but because hearing Lorna’s story made them reflect upon their own and the things they had in common. For some, that commonality extended to the deeply personal. As the event neared its end, Lorna sat down to let us into one more aspect of her life.

With a profound honesty and commitment to detail, she opened up about her personal experience with Domestic Violence. First, she asked the audience if there was anyone who would be uncomfortable with the topic however no hands went up. Lorna went on to revisit that dark period of her life characterized by running away, being found, running, and lying low once she finally got away. “It feels like you’re always going to be a victim, because it feels like you’re never getting out.” But she did and from then on, she refused to accept that she was a victim.

Eventually Lorna realized that she was making herself a victim so she just changed one word “Victim to Survivor” which impacted the way she viewed and understood what it meant to be “Free”. “I was a single parent,” Simon explained, “I had to do what I had to do.” In this moment, the clients in the room went from being a passive audience to an integral part of a conversation.

Nods and sounds of agreement echoed throughout the room. When Simon shared that she was now not only a proud mother but a grandmother, she had to pause for applause. After persevering, something changed. Her numbers improved and she found herself enjoying the work. As she walked around different communities and talked with people about what was going on with them, their lives, and their children, she discovered that her strength lies in her ability to communicate and understand those around her.

Because her job lined up with her skills, it felt like she could make a difference. It felt like she fit in. Today, Lorna is using her journey to encourage others to make their own success stories. One of the ways she’s doing that is by taking a tour of America Works offices to speak to current clients. Another is through her current role as a manager of a team. “If I’m busy leading you from the forefront, I can’t see if you fall by the wayside.

That’s my style of leadership.” As a leader of more than 40 people, she aims to create an environment with open lines of communication, understanding, and respect ”I’m big on respect,” she says, “Which means that I give it.” It’s an environment that sounds similar to the one created by AWNY staff and trainers, that helped Lorna change her perspective all those years ago.

During the event, one of the clients stood up and moved in closer to hear Lorna better. Farther in the back, a bench of mothers whispered amongst themselves.

Not because they were distracted, but because hearing Lorna’s story made them reflect upon their own and the things they had in common. For some, that commonality extended to the deeply personal. As the event neared its end, Lorna sat down to let us into one more aspect of her life. With a profound honesty and commitment to detail, she opened up about her personal experience with Domestic Violence.

First, she asked the audience if there was anyone who would be uncomfortable with the topic however no hands went up. Lorna went on to revisit that dark period of her life characterized by running away, being found, running, and lying low once she finally got away. “It feels like you’re always going to be a victim, because it feels like you’re never getting out.” But she did and from then on, she refused to accept that she was a victim. Eventually Lorna realized that she was making herself a victim so she just changed one word “Victim to Survivor” which impacted the way she viewed and understood what it meant to be “Free”. “

“I got out too.” The first response came from the other side of the room. “Me too.” Then another, and another. Suddenly, after hearing her story, fellow survivors in the room were eager to respond and show that they, too, had refused to be victims. Lorna gestured towards one of them and asked, “How do you feel?”

The client responded, “Free.” Lorna asked if she could hug her, and the two embraced. Over the span of two hours, the clients in the room heard the story of one of their own who had found not just success, but the place where she felt like she fit in.

Many wanted to know how they could find the same. “You’re all looking at me like, ‘how did she do this? Lorna smiled. “Well, it’s was not easy you still need to put in hard work.”

When asked what the big turning point in her life was, Lorna responds, “I fell in love.” But it’s a different kind of romance than you might expect. “I fell in love with me.” After everything that happened in her life, from leaving behind her homeland in search for the place she was free to be herself; to working multiple jobs as a single mother; to choosing to build a life of independence and dignity for her family, to embracing the opportunities offered to her by America Works, and then Royal Health Care and overcoming the kind of adversity that no human being should have to face,

Hunte is focusing on the strength she gained from it all. For America Works, the event was a testament to the strength that clients exhibit on a daily basis. By providing clients with vital job readiness training, connections to job opportunities, and career counseling, America Works helps to bridge the gap between marginalized populations and the self-sufficiency that dignified employment gives them.

Lorna’s story is one of success, but it is far from the only one. As the event came to a close, many of the clients thanked her. “I really needed to hear that,” one said. “I could hug you.” So she hugged her. In fact, she hugged all of them.

By Angelia Miranda