Homeless to Harpur: Stephanie Karluk lifts Binghamton community
Stephanie Karluk ’22 majored in psychology because she was fascinated by the human psyche, particularly how it can be transformed by trauma and subsequently recover.
Karluk understands the transformation firsthand, having gone from living on the streets of Binghamton 10 years ago to saving enough to buy a home in Johnson City. She has worked for years in homeless outreach and, with her Harpur College of Arts and Sciences degree, wants to make a larger impact on her community.
She’s a housing specialist for the Southern Tier Independence Center (STIC), a Binghamton-based nonprofit organization, helping people in nursing homes to transition out of those facilities and find affordable housing.
“This area has very little housing that’s accessible for people with low incomes,” Karluk says. “I have a passion for this work having gone through [homelessness] myself. STIC is a great place to work because it advocates for people who are in need. It’s a place I really enjoy working, and I feel like I’m making a difference.”
Karluk spent much of her youth in a cycle of entering and exiting foster homes. Though she was subsequently adopted, she describes that family situation as “not the best.” After earning an associate degree at SUNY Broome Community College, she wound up homeless. She couch-surfed before getting an apartment and a full-time job at the Children’s Home of Wyoming Conference, then the YMCA in Binghamton. Wanting to give herself a brighter future, Karluk enrolled in Binghamton’s Harpur College.
Her formal education and what she learned through experience, she feels, will make her more relatable to people struggling with housing insecurity. Clients will be helped by someone who truly understands them. But there is a downside to having that firsthand experience.
“It’s easier to engage with people and you have more empathy,” Karluk says. “But it does take an emotional toll because you’ve gone through [homelessness]. It can bring you back to that moment yourself. A lot of self-care is needed. I sometimes take on the person’s pain and feelings as my own, and I have to work every day to let that go.”
Karluk’s heart for the community extends beyond her profession. As a volunteer, she assembles care packages for Binghamton-area homeless people, organizes street cleanup projects in areas where homeless people take up shelter and organizes cold-weather clothing drives. She created a community outreach group on Facebook to involve people who wanted to join her in volunteer service.
Professor of Psychology Deanne Westerman had Karluk in her Human Memory class in the fall of 2020. Westerman serves on the committee for the Stanley Moldovan ’59 Memorial Scholarship, and got to know Karluk more after she applied for the award. Karluk is the second recipient of this scholarship, which is intended for a “smart and kooky psychology student” who has both excelled academically and found a creative solution for a difficult life problem.
The committee was drawn to Karluk’s patience and determination, the obstacles she has overcome and her dedication to aiding community members experiencing homelessness.
“Her passion for this issue was sparked by her own early difficulties, particularly challenges securing a stable housing situation. Stephanie is deeply empathic, but also a practical problem-solver,” Westerman says. “She found her way through a difficult period of her life and is determined to help others who have found themselves in similar situations.”
Sometimes, Karluk pauses and looks back at the turns her life has taken over the past decade.
“It was hard to look up and see how I was going to get out of it,” she remembers of that dark time. “I look at where I am now and the drastic difference and I feel hope for the future. I really do hope I can be an inspiration to other people.”