When at age eleven Marjorie Young and her family moved to the United States from Haiti, community volunteers helped her adapt to her new home and learn English. Now, 25 years later, Young reaches out to other people in the same way these volunteers reached out to her.
As director of Community House — a community action center established in 1969 in the John-Witherspoon neighborhood by seven University undergraduates — she oversees programs including SAT Preparation, a preschool program and Big-Brother, Big-Sister. In addition, Young trains student volunteers and acts as a liaison with community partners.
"I love my job," Young says, sitting comfortably on a couch in her spacious office in the Third World Center. "I feel like it is such a privilege to turn around now and do for others what others did for me when I first came to the United States."
From her early experience with volunteers, Young soon began to appreciate the significance of community service.
"When I came here I did not speak English," she says without a trace of an accent. "I credit my fluency in English to the fact that there were people who really cared and wanted to make a difference. These people were volunteers. I realized that without volunteers and without service many people like me would not benefit."
Young says she enjoys working with Princeton students and seeing their "other side, not just [their] academic side."
And Princeton students seem to enjoy working with her as well. When asked to talk about Young, students are full of praise for her.
"Marjorie has gone above and beyond the call of duty for all of the project coordinators and Community House-related functions," said Maisha Robinson '02, who has worked under Young as a tutor, project coordinator and office intern.
"In addition to her responsibilities at Community House, Marjorie has been a constant source of support and encouragement over the last four years," Robinson continued. "On a campus that lacks strong African-American representation in the administration and the faculty, it has truly been a blessing to have Marjorie here as a support system and as a surrogate mother."
Maisha's twin sister Nuriya Robinson '02 agreed that Marjorie is much more than just a director or a boss.
"Marjorie is a special presence on this campus," she said. "And in our eyes and in the eyes of the children in the John-Witherspoon community, she truly is a gift from God."
...After moving to Princeton, Young attended St. Paul's School, Princeton High School and Douglas College, the women's college at Rutgers University.
While at Douglas, Young was involved in many activities that concerned helping others. She was a representative for the black student union, she worked in a women's shelter and she also was a peer moderator, leading workshops on health issues such as AIDS and stress.
Young also established the Haitian Association of Rutgers University because she and her Haitian friends felt like the Caribbean groups on campus were not dealing with enough Haitian issues. Young describes her involvement in HARU as the highlight of her time at Rutgers.
"I loved being able to connect with other Haitians, speak Creole and educate Rutgers about Haiti," Young said.
After college, Young started working as a nursery school teacher and married the man she had been dating since high school. Together they have three children — Tamai, 12, Patrick, eight and Zachery, three months.
When asked what she enjoys doing in her free time, Young smiles as if to say that a woman with a full-time job and three young children does not have much free time. Young explains that once she became a parent, she got involved in the things her kids were interested in, like boy scouts, dirt biking and camping.
"I do like to read, I like going to plays at McCarter, I like sports [she used to play soccer and run track] and I like hanging out with friends and meeting new people," she said.
Young describes herself as spontaneous, flexible and adaptable.
"I can walk into a situation, see what needs to be done and then just do it. I am a task-oriented person," she said.
Young also has a deep faith in God.
"My faith in God helps me, carries me. Without God I know I would not be here," she said.
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