Two C.W. Post Students Team Up for a Common Cause on Common Ground
Helping Incarcerated Mothers during Imprisonment and upon their Release

April 28, 2004 -- When Robin Marshall, a 40-year-old graduating senior at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, wrote a one-act play for her Honors Thesis, her intention was to raise awareness of the plight of mothers who are in prison and their children. She never expected that audience member Catherine San Fan Andre, another adult student who is preparing to graduate from C.W. Post in May, would take the initiative to the next level through her connections to Common Ground Community, a non-profit housing development organization. The play, "Victims of Circumstance," is a heart-wrenching story of a young mother's life and the women in her prison dorm. It confronts issues that people face when they are isolated and/or incarcerated. "I want to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves," said Marshall.

San Fan Andre is the replication coordinator at Common Ground, where the mission is to solve homelessness through innovative programs that transform people, buildings and communities. She had recently written a paper on prison reform for a public administration course and went to see a staged reading of the thesis at the urging of her academic advisor, John Bardolf, who also advises Marshall. A few days before she saw the performance, San Fan Andre learned about a program that Common Ground is developing to help reunite formerly incarcerated mothers with the children whom they were separated from while in jail or prison.

"As I sat in the theatre, I started thinking about the possibility of using the performance of "Victims of Circumstance" as a tool to educate people and to increase public awareness of this issue." San Fan Andre was impressed by the performance and arranged for the Post Theatre Company to stage another performance of "Victims of Circumstance" at the Top of The Times in the Times Square (formerly the Hotel Times Square), Common Ground's first and largest supportive housing residence. The performance took place on April 22 at 6 p.m. in front of a crowd of approximately 70 guests. In attendance was the woman who inspired Marshall to write the play and also watching were several previously incarcerated women, one of whom spoke after the reading. "This woman had lost both of her children to foster care due to her addiction," said San Fran Andre. "The connection she made with the student performers was amazing; there are some lessons in life that cannot be taught in the classroom."

Marshall first became involved with incarcerated women and the issues they face through her work with the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt. Under the leadership of senior pastor Rev. Reginald Tuggle, church members minister to women at the Nassau County Correctional Facility and its Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Tier, where they offer support to incarcerated women during their stay and at the time of their release.

Marshall lives in Westbury and is the mother of three children, ages 14, 11 and 5. She will be graduating from C.W. Post on Mother's Day, Sunday May 9 with a bachelor of arts in theatre with a minor in dance and a G.P.A. of 3.83. At the commencement ceremonies she will serve as a Student Marshal for the School of Visual and Performing Arts.

San Fan Andre, who lives in Massapequa and is the mother of a 19-year-old son, will graduate with a bachelor of arts in English and a G.P.A. of 3.85. In 2003, she won the C.W. Post Collegial Federation Award for Public Service and the Henrietta Forgione Memorial English Award. On May 8, she will receive a special award for Excellence in Advocacy Writing. After graduation, she will attend The Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy for Health Services Management and Policy.

"It is wonderful to have two people who are so strongly committed to what they are doing," said Bardolf. "They are melding their social consciousness with their creative abilities."

Marshall and San Fan Andre will be among more than 2,500 students who will don their caps and gowns on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 9, 2004 for 46th annual commencement exercises of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The campus has awarded more than 86,000 degrees in its 50-year history, through a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs. For additional information, call the Office of Public Relations at (516) 299-2333.

Common Ground Community is a non-profit housing and development organization whose mission is to solve homelessness through innovative programs that transform people, buildings and communities. A key component of Common Ground's approach to homelessness is the establishment of ancillary services at its facilities, including job training and placement programs, mental health, substance abuse and health care services and computer and arts facilities to assist tenants in rebuilding their lives and leaving homelessness behind.

Common Ground has close to 1,600 tenants and 170 employees. Common Ground owns and operates The Times Square, The Prince George (both listed on the National Register of Historic Places), The Chelsea Residence and The Andrews. Common Ground Property Management operates The Aurora on behalf of The Actors' Fund and leases two floors of The Prince Hotel for use as a transitional shelter. Common Ground is currently developing a new 200-unit supportive housing building in downtown Brooklyn in collaboration with The Actors' Fund.

The organization has now expanded beyond New York City, and is working with local partners in Newburgh, NY; Willimantic CT; Hartford, CT, London and Toronto to replicate its work.

According to Kristin Miller, a member of the Housing Development Unit of Common Ground, researchers have found that 20% of the population in the New York City shelter system has been previously incarcerated. This is something groups like Common Ground are trying to fix. "There is momentum there," Miller said. "There are programs and legislation developing on federal, state and local levels, but we want to keep it going and get some real results. This performance is a tool to help keep the momentum going, to keep up with the advocacy and the education."

Together, these two mothers are trying to make a difference. But on their own, they have done quite well too. Last October, under San Fan Andre's direction, Common Ground sponsored its first world-wide conference on Supportive Housing and the process of replicating its successes in other locales on other continents and in North America. Supportive housing and homeless activists and advocates from as far away as Japan and Australia attended the two-day conference at Common Ground's two flagship residences, The Times Square and The Prince.