> For the holiday season, give vulnerable youth an alternative.
Sofia has nine brothers and sisters who all live with their mother. She’s the eldest. So, she helps out with the kids. She helps with their homework, she drops them and picks them up at school, she babysits. All this on top of keeping up with her own homework... as if being a teen wasn’t hard enough.
That’s a lot of responsibility for a young woman who just wants to graduate. Finally, it was too much. She couldn’t concentrate. Sofia dropped out. She was only 17. It felt like dropping out and leaving her dreams behind were destined to happen. With so much weighing her down, Sofia could have followed the same path that many of her friends have taken. Going out every night. Drinking. Hanging out on the street.
But fortunately, Sofia is now getting her diploma thanks to the help of generous donors like you. Because she met people at the Y who encouraged her at the right time in her life. She found support at one of our TeenZones. Dave, a YMCA youth worker, helped her see her own potential. Taught her to follow her heart and keep going. Showed her what her future could be.
How does your donation make a difference? By supporting the YMCA, you are providing hundreds of kids with dedicated youth workers, access to quality programming and help with their homework.
Sofia is doing better now. She has her life back on track. She studies part-time and works full-time. She’s pursuing her music and dance projects. She’s on the right track because you were there for her and others like her.
It’s hard for a young person like Sofia not to give up in the face of failure. By making a donation before December 31, you give young people the best gift of all for the New Year: the support they need to choose a better path to better days.
Many young people don’t get to have different kinds of experiences. They don’t have the means to.
By supporting the YMCA, you are helping young people succeed outside of school and helping them succeed at life, when so many face disappointment and failure.
All kids need a role model in their lives who will listen to them. Someone who isn’t a parent or an authority figure. Someone who will give them the tools to make their own decisions. Thanks to your help, these kids are growing up and making better choices on their way to adulthood.
It’s only the first term of the school year. There’s still time to act and help youth like Sofia. At school. In our community in general.
Make a donation before December 31 and give vulnerable youth an alternative: a safe place to go and individual support so they can start the New Year on the right foot.
Imagine how much impact this would have on their long-term development. Healthy kids make healthy communities. Because, when you keep a young person away from delinquency, unemployment, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and boredom, the whole community benefits. Both socially and economically.
We hope you’ll join us and make a donation to the YMCA. It will be an investment in a young person and his or her family. An investment for all of us.
*Name has been changed to protect the participant’s privacy.