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ANNA'S STORY
There was a time when Ana didn’t have much hope for what her future might hold. Her days were filled with severe bouts of depression, sadness and even thoughts of suicide.Matt's success story.
To start out I'll explain where I'm coming from. I was born in Arkansas on May 1992, and spent the next 9 years of my life moving from state to state and many towns in between.HILLARY'S STORY
Hillary has learned to motivate herself with the desire to help others despite her hardships because of the help that Texans Can Academies gave her.ROXANA'S STORY
When she found Texans Can Academies, the difference was clear. Her prayers were answered.
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There was a time when Ana didn’t have much hope for what her future might hold. Her days were filled with severe bouts of depression, sadness and even thoughts of suicide.
Today, Ana is a new mom, wife and a young woman who sees a positive outlook for herself and her family’s future. She credits Houston Can! Academy Hobby campus for helping change her life and providing the foundation she needed to pursue her dream of becoming a registered nurse. “When I was going to South Houston High School, I was always fighting, hanging out with the wrong crowd and not going to class,” said Ana. “I knew if I stayed there I wasn’t going to be able graduate so I could better my life.” Ana, like many at-risk students who attend Houston Can! Academy, just needed an educational environment to give them the hope to become somebody extraordinary despite the challenges they have faced in their life. “I came here three years ago in the middle of tenth grade,” she explained. “The environment has been really good. There haven’t been any fights and the teachers really care and take time. My favorite classes were reading and parenting, which was very helpful, especially since I was about to have a baby and I learned a lot.” Ana found teacher expectations to be high, but that they were always there for support. “I failed the TAKS once the science part, but I passed all the other subjects on the first try,” she said. “The teachers gave us a lot of extensive tutoring for the test which helped. If you want to come here and take care of your business, you can definitely do it here.” Part of the first graduating class of 2008, Ana didn’t wait to get her diploma before starting to take a few nursing classes at San Jacinto College. She says she is up for the challenge of finishing the four year program while juggling school, work and motherhood duties for her son, Julio Jr. “My sister died of AIDS and I wanted to be a Doctor, but that was going to take too long, explained Ana. “I still wanted to be in the medical field so that I can help others, and nursing is a good way to make a difference.”
Christian and his father have known many closed doors.
After a medical discharge from the US Army, Christian’s father began a heating and air conditioning business. For a time, the business grew, and things were going well.
Christian’s mother, however, had developed a worsening drug habit. His worried father often woke up in the middle of the night, fearing he would find her dead from an overdose.
“My father,” Christian says, “gave my mother an ultimatum: it was either us or the drugs.
“She chose the drugs,” he remembers.
When his mother made her choice, Christian was all of eight.
A month after she left, Christian’s father encouraged him to visit her at his grandmother’s home, where his mother had been staying. Though deeply disappointed in her and not wanting to see her, he went. He spotted the family vehicle in the driveway of his grandmother’s house, but when he knocked on the door, no one answered. Then, he spotted a window curtain move and plainly heard his mother’s voice: “Don’t open the door.”
Shortly thereafter, Christian’s father got sick with pancreatitis. He was weakened and unable to work. Christian had to learn to care for his father, cooking small meals and helping his father to and from the restroom.
Christian’s mother, meanwhile, gutted the family’s savings account.
With no savings and no income, Christian and his father eventually saw the electricity cut and the water shut off. Baths were taken using gallons of water purchased from the store, meals were cooked by the grill, and clothes went unwashed. Christian’s homework had to be done while the sun was still up. He was bullied at school for his unwashed clothes.
Thanks to the generosity of their local Catholic church, Christian and his father received enough money to turn the electricity and water back on. His father could pay for the medical treatment he needed. Christian and his father felt stronger in their faith, and they continued to enjoy cooking out on the grill—which had become a bonding activity for them.
During his junior year, Christian was doing well. He was keeping up with his studies and excelling in a welding program. However, their home of many years was falling apart. The landlord, unwilling to cover the costs of repairs prescribed by the housing authority, locked Christian and his father out of their home. They could not afford the deposit on a new place to live.
For a month, Christian and his father were homeless, and they slept behind dumpsters. When they did find an apartment, it was in bad shape. Need forced them to take it.
Two more obstacles stood in their way. Following multiple ignored requests to address the apartment’s safety hazards, Christian’s father tripped on the ripped carpet in their living room, injuring his knees and losing some mobility.
“I’d had enough,” Christian recalls. He felt that, because of his family’s limited resources, they were being overlooked. Motivated to right a wrong, he made a close study of the lease: the landlord was in violation of the Fair and Equal Housing Act. Christian took action. Thanks to his advocacy with the housing authority, Christian’s father’s medical expenses were covered by the property management’s insurance provider, and a state inspector made an inspection of the entire property.
Still there was the second obstacle. Because he had missed too many days of school during their month of homelessness, Christian faced repeating his junior year. It was a blow.
Friends told him about Texans Can Academies and its accelerated curriculum recovery. When he and his father came for enrollment, however, they thought they had encountered yet another closed door—the school required uniforms, and he and his father could not afford it. They prepared to walk away.
Thanks to the school’s Whole Student program, however, Christian’s uniform was paid for. The same day, the school’s principal met with Christian and his father and took them to lunch in the cafeteria.
“That meant a lot to us,” Christian says.
The very next day, Christian was able to start school and get back on track.
From then on, Christian experienced the school’s generous welcome. When food was scarce, he availed himself of the school’s food pantry, and, in the classroom, he found the academic support he needed.
“The staff at Can have been great. They have shown me so much hospitality. My history teacher, Mr. Rodriguez, helped and encouraged me. He was very straightforward and set high expectations for me.”
“Because of the Can, I didn’t have to repeat my junior year,” he says.
Christian graduated from Texans Can in June 2019, and, taking advantage of the GI Bill and a scholarship made possible by proceeds from an annual community luncheon, has enrolled in St. Philip’s College’s pre-law program.
Christian and his father continue to enjoy cooking out on the grill together, and, with faith in God, they both look forward to a future of open doors.
“I am thankful the Can was there for me. I know I have a lot more to give, and a lot more to achieve.”
To start out I'll explain where I'm coming from. I was born in Arkansas on May 1992, and spent the next 9 years of my life moving from state to state and many towns in between.
I was fairly wealthy, my father worked for Wal-Mart Distribution Centers all over America. We had vacations often and all the newest and nicest stuff you could ask for. I moved from North Carolina to Texas in 2001. Again, in Texas, I moved from town to town and finally landing in Denton county. Here I actually had a stable home for a few years until December 2004 and odd event came about. I was home alone watching my afternoon cartoons when some strange people knocked on my back door and asked for my dad. Little did I know that they were there to take him to jail. My father, unbeknown to me, was a local drug dealer. Of course I wasn't oblivious but I had no clue to the seriousness of his actions. They arrested him for possession, intent to sell, and oh yeah, having a methamphetamine lab in our garage. He went to prison, I went to live with other family for a few years.
He got out of prison in late 2006. By that time I was living with my mom again, not in the best of conditions. This proceeded on for a while. My father got busted a few more times. So obviously this reflected at the school I attended. I went to Azle High School from 2005-2009. I was nothing but trouble. I was fighting often and in and out of A.E.P. and other in school suspension programs. I was selling drugs here and there, and doing twice as much. I saw a lot of my friends go down the same road my dad did. I saw me going gown that road. This made me reflect a lot seeing as I had been through hell compared to where I grew up. I didn't want this for my kids, or anyone else's kids for that matter. In 2009 we were evicted from our house and decided to start a new again in a different town, River Oaks.
I was still technically a freshman so going back to school seemed out of the picture until I realized the Can Academy was only 2miles from my house. I found out I could really start over here. I began attending in late August of 2009 and now I'm only 6 days away from graduating. I was more motivated to graduate here that I was to do anything else in my life. I walked those two miles back and forth everyday, and in this term, I've finished seven classes, five of which I completed in four weeks. This school gave me an opportunity that has indefinitely decided the course of the rest of my life. I have now quit drugs, stopped smoking cigarettes, and improved many aspects of my life I can credit the school for helping me with.
I'm not perfect, but I realize now that I can do absolutely anything I want with my life. Aiming to be president seems to small a goal to me now. And in 6 days it all begins. Thank you, Can Academy
Imagine growing up not knowing where you would get your next meal from or where you would be able to sleep safely each night. It’s unimaginable for most of us. But it was reality for Hillary.
At the age of two-years-old, Hillary was taken from her mom and placed into Child Protective Services and was transferred from foster home to foster home.
Today, she’s 19-years-old and on her way to graduation with her 9-month-old baby girl.
“It’s been hard for me going from shelter to shelter and in and out of foster care. When I finally thought things were getting normal, people want to adopt me and then they don’t. It’s hard on you.”
Hillary was always in search of her ‘forever home,’ but when you are forced to live with strangers, you never know what each day has in store.
“I finally gave up on trying to get adopted and just stuck with being in foster care. I accepted the fact that I would be there until I was 18. So I ran away, like every other teenager does.”
The lack of control that comes from being a foster child caused continual insecurity for Hillary. She believed it was normal for a teenager to run away from home.
After running away, the endless battle for stability continued; she became pregnant.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take care of the baby, but I didn’t want to end up like my mom and lose my daughter. At that point I didn't think I was going to finish school either, but then at the shelter where I was living, I was told about Texans Can.. I was finally determined to do better and be better. I didn’t want my daughter growing up thinking it’s okay to not finish high school because her mom dropped out. I want her to think ‘my mom did it, I can do it too.’
“On my first day at the school, I thought it was all good vibes. I was welcomed by the advisors, the principal, and some of the teachers, too. I was really happy. I went from ‘I don’t know if I want to do this’ to ‘I think this is going to be a good experience.’
It was life changing because a lot of kids drop out of regular high schools and they don’t come back.
Texans Can was actually like a home when I was there. I had classes with most of the teachers there. And they truly want to see everyone graduate and do something with their lives.
The learning processes are even a lot different from other schools. Marquez Reading helps us listen and understand material. A lot of the kids begin here and don’t know how to read, but with Marquez Reading we are able to learn. It also helps us bond with each other and the teachers.
I use those skills all the time now, including those listening skills. Other schools are loud and people are always skipping class. At Texans Can people check up on you and make sure you’re okay. The classrooms are also a lot quieter and you don’t get distracted.
When you walk in there’s always someone there to greet you. It’s very different, a good different.
Being here has changed me a lot.
I know if I was with my mom today, I wouldn’t be the person I am. I would probably be out in the streets doing some horrible things.”
Today, with her 9-month-old daughter clinging to her side, she will walk across the stage at graduation. Hillary is determined to change the cycle she grew up with, and in doing so, changing the future for her daughter as well.
“Right now I’m still living in the placement I am in for the next couple of weeks. I plan on moving to Fort Worth, getting my own apartment, and taking classes online. In the future, I want to become a therapist or counselor at a shelter so I can help other people get through life.”
Hillary has learned to motivate herself with the desire to help others despite her hardships because of the help that Texans Can Academies gave her.
“I want to tell everyone, don’t quit. Quitting is not worth it. This school helps a lot. I came here not caring, but I’m leaving here caring so much.
A lot of people think Texans Can is going to be like every other school, but I can guarantee you it’s not like any other school. They’ll actually push you and motivate you to do better so you can be someone in life.”
Like many students, Roxana had failed the English portion of the STAAR test.
She wasn’t sure how she would succeed, but she was sure her future beyond high school was on hold.
Facing taking the STAAR test again was discouraging, even more so when she could not find the support she needed at school.
“I had difficulties taking the English STAAR test in my old school not because I didn’t pay attention,” she says. Her teacher gave students books to improve their reading; she was simply not asked questions about them. No discussions about them followed.
She was, in other words, left to learn on her own.
“I want to graduate. I don’t want to spend my days like this,” she remembers.
When she found Texans Can Academies, the difference was clear. Her prayers were answered.
In addition to the reading and writing proficiency she was gaining through the interactive readings in every class, Roxana found engaging teachers who went the extra mile.
“They spent time actually working days that they could be resting at their houses, but no: they really care about you. They treat you with love and respect.”
Roxana is excited to meet her future beyond school, but she looks back on her time at Texans Can with gratitude, and she has a word for those like her who cannot see a way forward.
“I want to encourage you. Keep going. You only fail when you fail to try.”
Roxana graduated from Texans Can in 2019.
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