NYCHA-CUNY Scholar: Kenoy Frith

Kenoy Frith has many goals in life: She wants to graduate from Baruch College and become an accountant, take care of her family, and help small businesses in her community succeed as a consultant. Her bottom line is that she is committed to overcoming any obstacle to her success.

After high school, Ms. Frith started working in the restaurant industry. She was quickly promoted to a management-level position, where she enjoyed the responsibility and the opportunity to learn the basics of the business. But her life plans changed overnight one tragic day in 2014, when a fire spread from a neighbor’s apartment, leaving Ms. Frith and her husband with nothing.

After the incident, Ms. Frith was living in a shelter, working long hours in the restaurant, volunteering at church, and trying to afford college classes. In 2015, her family moved to an apartment in Van Dyke Houses in Brooklyn.

Unfortunately, life had another unpleasant surprise for her – the restaurant where Ms. Frith was working closed down.

“Starting life over has its own share of struggles that are quite unexpected: Tasks as simple as going to work became hard because we didn’t have money to purchase a new wardrobe,” said Ms. Frith. “I realized I didn’t even have clothes to interview in. Fortunately, NYCHA works with Brownsville JobsPlus, and as a resident, I was able to get their help: They redo your resume and provide clothes for job interviews.”

To advance her education and career, Ms. Frith enrolled at CUNY’s Baruch College two years ago.

“However, it’s very difficult to study and not have an income. I used to work full-time but we decided to focus on the studies at this stage of my life,” said Ms. Frith.

Another valuable opportunity arose when Ms. Frith earned the Kofi Hormeku Scholarship. This NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarship is awarded to residents in full-time CUNY programs with at least a 3.0 GPA. Awardees received $1,000 that can be used for education-related expenses, including tuition, books, and fees. 

“I am hoping to start working in the accounting field before I graduate because I have a lot of experience in that area,” Ms. Frith explained.

Currently, Ms. Frith is in the second year of her studies at Baruch College. In two more years, she can become a Certified Public Accountant. She is considering going to a law school after she obtains her master’s in accounting.

“I always plan my steps strategically to help myself gain the skills I need for better opportunities,” noted Ms. Frith.

She also wants to help others in her community by teaching financial literacy: “Eventually, I want to do consulting. I believe there are a lot of businesses in low-income communities that don’t do as well as they could. The reason is that a lot of people in the business do not have financial literacy and don’t know about the available opportunities for business growth. I think it’d help a lot if low-income communities knew how to run their businesses efficiently and be able to create jobs.”

To learn more about the NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarship, click here.

To see the full list of 2021 NYCHA-CUNY Scholars, click here.