Anna Colon, who has diabetes, has cared for grandson Steven Nieves, 17, since he was a baby.

Steven Nieves looked like a guerrilla fighter, walking through the Bronx in his Junior R.O.T.C. uniform. He stood proudly in a tilted black beret and perfectly shined boots as he explained the meaning of an achievement ribbon: He was one of a small group from Bronx Aerospace Academy High School chosen to fly a plane with a flight instructor in recognition of his academic achievement.

“I was the only one stuck in the cloud,” he said, pantomiming trouble with the controls. “There was turbulence.” Read more..

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Mamadou Diallo with his two-year-old son, Ibrahim, in their Bronx apartment. The family was put in financial peril because of thousands of dollars in erroneous utility bills.

When that first unexpectedly high Consolidated Edison bill — with a balance in the hundreds of dollars instead of the usual $70 — landed in Mamadou Diallo mailbox in the Bronx last year, he simply paid it.

 This week, experts from the Children’s Aid Society and the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York will be answering selected questions about foreclosure and the housing crisis.

The Diallo Family

 Nafissatou Kante with two of her children, Ibrahim, left, and Issagha.

Moussa, and Madany, 10, reading ion their bedroom

Then came the whopping bill from Cablevision, and mysterious demands from phone companies. And the Con Ed balance continued to grow, from $404 one month to $634 the next.

All he could think, he said, was that “something is wrong; someone is trying to steal my electricity.” Read more..

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Stephanie Womble, right, and her daughter, Joslyn, 13. Ms. Womble is studying to become a hairdresser.

Holidays Give Bronx Family Every Reason To Celebrate & Be Festive!

Stephanie Womble’s apartment is packed with Christmas cheer. Lights are strung through the living room, the tree plays carols, and the walls and doors are covered in wrapping paper.

“It makes me happy inside,” Ms. Womble says. “I wake up, I’m happy. Everything’s bright. It just does something to my mind. The places that we’ve lived have been so ugly and unbearable.”

After almost two years in homeless shelters, Ms. Womble has reason to celebrate. In February, she and her children, Joslyn Bourne, 13, and Jordan Bourne, 15, moved into this one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx.

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