Futures in Education Helps Mom Fulfill Goal of Providing Children With Christ-Centered Education

By Katie Vasquez and Bill Miller

QUEENS VILLAGE — Kendra-Lee Gordon, 14, wears a black silicone bracelet stamped with Isaiah 40:31 — the one promising that they who hope on the Lord will “soar on eagles’ wings” and “not grow weary.”

Kendra-Lee, who is adopted, said she knows it’s true because she sees it each day in how her mother provides a Godly home for her and four foster siblings. 

Neresa Gordon, a single mom, also wants the children to have a Catholic-centered education, so last fall she enrolled them in nearby Ss. Joachim and Anne Catholic School in Queens Village. 

“I wanted them to learn daily more about God, and not just from my mouth,” Gordon said. “When they hear it from somebody else, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s what Mommy was talking about.’ They understand it more.”

Gordon manages it all on a fixed income because she retired early from a lucrative career in information technology to care for the children full-time. Still, she would not compromise on their education.

“I thought this was going to be very hard for me, but I’m going to put them through Catholic school,” she said. “I’ll go back to work if I have to.”

The principal, Linda Freebes, told Gordon about the “Angel” donors to the Futures in Education scholarship program. Their donations help cover partial tuition at Catholic elementary schools in Brooklyn and Queens, starting at $2,000 per student per year.

“So,” Gordon said, “then I started praying about that.”

Her prayers were answered when her family was approved for financial aid through the Angel program. 

RELATED: Futures in Education Raises More Than $1.5 Million for Catholic School Scholarships

Subsequently, she was invited to deliver a speech at the Futures in Education’s Annual Scholarship Fund Dinner, April 29, in the grand ballroom at Cipriani Wall Street.

Gordon told The Tablet that she was a bit nervous to speak in public. Still, she planned to tell her audience how grateful she is for the Angel donation that transformed the lives of her children.

Gordon was raised Methodist, but attended Catholic summer schools while growing up in Jamaica. She is the 15th of 17 children, yet her parents always managed to feed neighborhood kids who had little to eat at home.

Watching her parents, she said she realized that love is not limited — it multiplies.

“I always wanted to have four or five kids, and a good husband, but that never happened,” Gordon said.

So, she decided to adopt, but became a foster mother first.

She adopted Kendra-Lee in 2018 after mothering her as a foster child for most of her life. Eight years ago, the household grew by three more foster children — two girls and a boy. Another boy came nearly two years ago.

The children did well in the lower grades at public schools, Gordon said. However, as they advanced, she said she was alarmed at how they came home unmotivated to excel in school, yet were well-versed in street slang.

So Gordon sought an alternative education and discovered Ss. Joachim and Anne Catholic School.

“I met with Mrs. Freebes and she just reminded me of my old principal in Jamaica when I was growing up,” Neresa said. “She’s on the strict side, but she’s all about the kids and their education. I knew then that my kids were going to be OK.”

Kendra-Lee plans to begin high school next year at St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows. She said the shift to Catholic school was intimidating at first because she feared being judged negatively for her public-school background.

She added that while there was plenty of fighting among students at her public school, the atmosphere at Ss. Joachim and Anne is different.

“This school is not surrounded by violence. It’s peace and love that you get from teachers, the students, and the staff,” Kendra-Lee said. “I felt more appreciated.”

Now she has experienced at both home and school, the promises from another scripture on her bracelet, Isaiah 41:10. 

“Do not fear, for I am with you,” it reads. “Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

“I have everything that I could need as a child,” Kendra-Lee said, wiping away tears. “I’m very grateful that God has sent mommy into my life, because he knew she was the best person for me.”