Car for Kids in Georgia

Byron Del Pinal’s first year in high school was a fairly normal one.He participated in football and did well in his classes. He moved to a new school his sophomore year and found similar success.However, his family moved yet again during his sophomore year and he enrolled in his third high school in two years.

Things changed for Byron after the second move. He started skipping school and his grades suffered.He remained in the same high school his junior year but finished the year not passing one class.He began his fourth year at that same school as a junior rather than as a senior and saw no hope of graduating with his class or joining the military which was his dream.

After visiting with Marine recruiters, he decided to go to Guatamela and get his high school diploma there. He was very successful and graduated in October of 2009. He returned to the ready to fully engage in the military lifestyle but was shocked when the Marine recruiters said that they could not accept his Guatemalan high school diploma for admission to the Marine Corps.

Determined to achieve his dreams, Byron visited with Tony Swafford, principal of the Fort Worth Can! Academy River Oaks campus, about completing the coursework he needed to meet the credit requirements and pass the TAKS tests to qualify for a Texas high school diploma. Swafford outlined the five credits he needed to meet graduation requirements, established his daily schedule, and made arrangements for him to get the needed tutoring to prepare him for the TAKS tests.

In less than one school year with Fort Worth Can! Byron earned 1.5 credits and passed all three TAKS tests he needed to graduate.He now needed to finish the 3.5 credits required for graduation during the final quarter of the year.Normally, students can earn 2.0 credits during one quarter.Byron worked closely with Stanley Carr, River Oaks credit recovery lab teacher, and was able to finish the 3.5 credits.He walked across the stage to receive his diploma June 4, 2010 in front of his very proud family and Fort Worth Can! teachers.

Byron’s dream came true entering the United States Marine Corps soon after graduation and has since finished his thirteen week basic training.Byron recently returned to the River Oaks campus to thank the teachers and staff for helping him reach his dreams and to remind the students that anything is possible if you are only willing to work hard to achieve it.

Joshua was born and raised in New Orleans. Shortly after his father died, Hurricane Katrina further devastated the family. Joshua fled from his housing project as the water rose, fearing the worst because he cannot swim. He sought refuge in his sister’s third-floor apartment; his mother went to the Superdome. As was the case with many, evacuation from New Orleans split his family. Joshua and two sisters landed in Austin and it was 4 months before he knew the whereabouts of his mother. For 5 months he lived at the Austin Convention Center. During this time, he attended two different high schools. The school bus did not pick up at the convention center and without transportation, it was difficult for him to attend school across town, so he was expelled from both schools for lack of attendance. The second expulsion came after he went back to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in New Orleans despite a principal’s warning not to miss any more classes. “I just wanted to see my family. After we were split up, it was the first chance to all be together,” explained Joshua. The school tried to refer him to a GED program. “I’d come too close to graduating to get a GED. I wanted my diploma,” Joshua insisted. Luckily Joshua spotted an Austin Can! Academy billboard. He decided to check out the school and started attending last April. “I feel comfortable here. I can focus on my education.” Josh attributes his success at the academy to the small class sizes and the support from teachers. “I feel inspired to learn. Teachers work with you and you get that extra attention that you do not get at a big high school,” he added. Life in Austin has improved for Joshua. He and his girlfriend share an apartment and they have a new son. Motivated by fatherhood, Joshua has high hopes for his future. He’ll be graduating in January and looks forward to enrolling in Austin Community College’s nursing program to become a registered nurse. “I always took care of my dad when he was sick. I like to help people,” he said. When asked about Joshua, principal Charles Long noted, “Joshua is what Austin Can! is all about. He’s a kid who has had to overcome many obstacles, and we helped him succeed. He is a great example for others.”

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.”

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.”

When Eddie grew up with his mother, brother, and sister, a regular family meal was a tortilla with salt for seasoning.

His loving mother worked hard, but making ends meet was almost beyond her. His dad was not in the picture.

One day, Eddie came home from school to find his brother and sister hungry. He couldn’t take the sight of it any longer. “I decided that was enough. Something had to change.”

At fifteen, Eddie left the ninth grade to go to work.

Moving away from his mother and siblings in Arkansas, Eddie began living with his uncle, who had a construction job for him in San Antonio. There, Eddie had no friends. His absence from home was painful. The burden was lightened, however, by knowing that he made enough money to provide food and necessities for his brother and sister.

After some time, a co-worker many years older told Eddie that he saw something in him. “You know, you’re really good at this. But you could be doing much more. Why don’t you go to school? Why aren’t you in school?”

For Eddie, who left that path years before, the thought of graduating high school at twenty-one was far from appealing. But, his co-worker’s words worked on his imagination. He looked online and found Texans Can - San Antonio.

This was, Eddie says, “the best decision I ever made.”

At Texans Can - San Antonio, Eddie found staff and teachers who made him feel cared for—the first time he ever knew that feeling in school. He made friends. And he still worked construction, still sending money back home, while working for his high school diploma.

One day, one of Eddie’s friends, a fellow member on the basketball team, was struck by a car and died. Devastated by the loss, Eddie turned to the abundantly available emotional support from the staff at Texans Can. Through this time, Eddie connected with his math tutor, who became a mentor and friend. Eddie began to enjoy weekends.

“For the first time in my life, I actually got to be a kid.” His heavy responsibilities, he said, faded in those moments.

The impact Eddie’s mentor made on him stays with him to this day. Now, seven years after graduation, Eddie is an award-winning store manager for AT&T, a company he has stayed with since he graduated. He has traveled abroad, and he has purchased his second home. Because of his experiences at Texans Can - San Antonio and the success he has known since, he wants to give back, being a mentor to young men who, like him, have had to go without the love and guidance of a father.

Most important to Eddie is his family. Married with two small children, a six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, Eddie is grateful that they “will never know what it was like to struggle” as he did. “They will never know the pain of growing up without their father.”

And Eddie is a father figure to more than his children. Thanks to his hard work, his brother and sister were provided for. Both graduated and now, says Eddie, are “doing well,” and they now live in the same Arkansas community. If cousins need equipment so they can enjoy playing on the basketball team, Eddie is ready to provide. The beat of his heart is to be the father he never knew, and the one he found at Texans Can - San Antonio.

The new life he has found through Texans Can, Eddie says, is “truly amazing.”