October 04, 2010
For a third consecutive year, St. John’s innovative Project
Identity is improving the lives of some of New York’s neediest
residents by assisting them in obtaining official identification
they need to vote, apply for jobs and ensure
self-sufficiency.
Project Identity is one example of the many services Ozanam
Scholars perform under the rubric of the Vincentian
Institute for Social Action (VISA) which was created to more
visibly embed the University’s Catholic, Vincentian mission into
students’ lives.
Ozanam
Scholars, a select group of young women and men chosen on the
basis of their academic excellence and dedication to service, work
with clients of St. John’s
Bread and Life to guide them through the official process of
retrieving birth certificates and filing for, driver’s licenses,
state IDs and social security cards – vital forms of
identification. Located in Brooklyn, St. John’s Bread and Life is
one of the city’s largest sources of food, clothing and other
services for those in need.
“Project identity is an initiative most faithful to the essence of
VISA and the Vincentian mission,” said Rev.
James J. Maher, C.M. Vice President of Student Affairs. “It
combines service, community based research and impact — a great
example of how VISA was designed.”
It was after speaking with several clients at St. John’s Bread and
Life that Ozanam Scholars Eugenia Soldatos and John Wilson
discovered that one of the major contributing factors of poverty
was that many of New York City’s disenfranchised did not possess
proper forms of identification.
“Frequently clients would come in and tell me that all of
their belongings were stolen or misplaced,” explains
Robin Kornstein ’13C, an environmental studies major and Ozanam
Scholar. “It’s amazing how we take for granted how important it is
to have these forms of identification. Without them we have no
proof of who we are.”
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