Celebration Time!

IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE!!

Six Promise House teens accomplished major milestones this Spring. Brittney, Anita, Ryan, and Anthony all graduated from high school with flying colors! Brittney graduated from Arbor Education Training, Anita from Lincoln High School, Ryan from Hillcrest, and Andrew from Kimball. On top of that, Andrew received a $5,000 scholarship per year from the Professional Golfers' Association! Congratulations to these incredible young people!

That's not all. Julie, a former Wesley Inn resident, graduated from Everest College in May; and Sarah, a current resident of Wesley Inn, just completed her first semester at El Centro with Straight "A's".

So, what is so special about these accomplishments? Only that each of these kids came to Promise House from the street. And more than that, while they were on the street, they were trying to stay in school--living in cars, in parks, sofa surfing, running from abuse, trying to survive--and in school. That is pretty miraculous.

We believe strongly at PH that education is a way out of poverty and homelessness. These kids truly embody WHY we believe what we believe. They have broken the cycle, they have stepped into life, they have demanded through their accomplishments that they be respected.

You can never know the extent of their tragedy, their sorrow, the unimaginable trauma they have experienced. But we know. And they know. And they also know that we will do anything for them except allow them to use their trauma as a barrier to their success. The trauma was real. The barrier is not. That is something we know before they know.

Brittney, Anita, Ryan, Anthony, Julie, and Sarah faced down their barriers and succeeded. Hallelujah!

I'm not sure, in their circumstances, I could have done the same.