Car for Kids in New York

Ashley Viera is a 21 year old student who is married with 4 children. Ashley just had her third child at the end of last school year. Despite the obstacles of being a mother and wife, Ashley has continued to come to school and is determined to finish. Currently Ashley is 8.5 credits away from graduation and will hopefully finish San Antonio Can! in June 2011. Ashley's Quote: "I like that my classes are shorter and I get out earlier so I can still have quality time with my 4 kids. That is why I came to San Antonio Can!"

From Ready to Work Coordinator, Charlotte Chew:

Filling out the Apply Texas application with students is a day-to-day task in this job. Armandina reminded me one day of how big of a difference the seemingly simple task of filling out a college application will make in a student’s life. I met with Armandina a few times in the semester to help her figure out what she’d like to do after high school. She decided that she would like to attend community college and she came to me to assist her in filling out her Apply Texas application. I sat with her as she filled out each page then when she submitted her application I told her “Congratulations! You’ve just applied for college….and you’ve been accepted!” She looked at me with wide eyes and asked “For real?!” and then gave me the biggest hug. She completed the Accuplacer exam when a representative from Palo Alto College administered the test on our campus.

The following week after she completed her Accuplacer, the Can! transition coordinator and I met her at St. Philip’s College to connect her with services and to show her which offices she needed to go to in order to register for classes and manage her financial aid. Armandina seemed rather overwhelmed and in shock that she was at college about to enroll for classes. She finished her credits in October and has registered for the spring semester. I had the opportunity to work with her for just a short time, but I’m really proud of her for following through with plans for a bright future.

Armandina plans to study nursing in college and become a Registered Nurse. She says she wants to become a nurse to help others. She was inspired by her mother who was diagnosed with diabetes and Armandina helped her with insulin injections. This made her realize her passion for taking care of others.

Congratulations Armandina! We are so proud of YOU!

Paola grew up in a traditional home. Both of her parents supported her ambitions, and she was the perfect daughter - until she started to surround herself with the wrong crowd.

Paola began to rebel. Skipping school became the norm.

“I just didn’t care anymore. I stopped going to school; I basically dropped out,” Paola said. “I was so used to skipping class, I didn’t care who found out or what my family would think.”

Her mother was devastated when she found out Paola had been skipping school. She tried to convince Paola that education was the only way to have a prosperous future, but Paola refused to listen.

Everyday, Paola’s mom would shield her husband from reality. She knew he could not bear the truth about his daughter’s downfall.

“My dad never knew I was skipping school. It was only my mom. One day she couldn’t take it anymore. She finally told him.”

It was difficult to shatter her husband’s reality, but after realizing Paola was out of control, she finally built the courage to tell her husband the truth.

“She called my dad while he was working, and he had a heart attack. It hurt. It was the worst thing in my life. I hate that I had to learn the hard way, while my dad is the one who suffered.”

“That’s what changed me,” she said. “It took such a drastic event in order for me to change. I realized I went too far. I couldn’t let my family down anymore.”

“I couldn’t lose my dad,” she said.

“After that, I wanted to get my life straightened out. My mom didn’t want me to give up on school, but I couldn’t go back to my old school because I didn’t have enough credits,” Paola explained. “So I went to a private school, and it didn’t work out either. That’s when I heard about Texans Can.”

Paola could tell the school was very different than the others she’d tried.

“When I started going here, I realized how much discipline I needed,” she said. “The second I got here, I felt the love from the school. Every advisor and teacher have been nothing but helpful.”

“At a traditional high school they just give you a packet. At Texans Can it’s not like that. They’re interactive at every step. They never just sit in the back and act like they don’t care.”

“I always say if I knew about Texans Can since the beginning I would’ve started here my freshman year. This is a unique school, everything about it is special.”

Texans Can’s college-readiness program has even inspired her to pursue more than a high school diploma.

“I want to go to the army and be a nurse on base, so I can help people,” she said. “I’ve heard many people say Texans Can is for kids who don’t have anything to do. People talk down on the school, but it’s not like that at all.”

“This school is amazing. Iit changed my life. If I had not come here, I don’t know where I’d be. Probably still in the same hole, never able to get out,” she said. “Now I can make my family proud and prove to my dad I have changed for the better. I never want to hurt him again.”

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.”

Ashley was put into foster care as a young girl. Over six years, she was placed in seven foster homes in three different cities and attended 15 different schools. “I’m not saying those schools were bad or that I was getting into trouble,” Ashley said about her decision to attend Austin Can! Academy, “but I needed a school that was smaller, that didn’t have as much peer pressure.” At TEXANS CAN!-Austin, Ashley quickly got involved in extracurricular activities such as basketball and track. In addition to working full-time, Ashley attended classes four hours a day. She talks about the differences she experienced at Austin Can! “I became much more positive about myself. Teachers knew my name. They worked with me one-on-one. People said nice things to me; gave me encouragement. That just doesn’t happen in foster care.” Her transformation was exhibited through her sky-high performance. Ashley earned straight A’s and earned Winner’s Circle awards numerous times. “My friends and my real family encouraged me,” Ashley said. “They knew that I didn’t have to come here … I wasn’t in trouble with drugs or anything. But they are proud of me for doing so well and setting a good example for others.” As a graduate in 2006, Ashley reflected on her experience. “Austin Can! Is a really good school,” she said. “The staff is great. They taught me to stay with it and never give up. And most importantly, it made me a better person.”