When you think about it, many non-profit organizations are in a most unusual situation. Seemingly counterintuitive, the ultimate goals of our organizations are meant to one day put us out of business. Here at Saint John’s Program for Real Change the purpose of our work is to eradicate poverty and homelessness, and if we do that, we, the Saint John’s staff, donors and volunteers are left with the best possible sort of conundrum.
The statistics tell us a story of generational poverty and cyclical patterns of homelessness. So much of what we do at Saint John’s Program is focusing on the root causes of homelessness and creating change from the ground up. The next generation will always be the foundation of our community, our society and our world. Investing into the futures of the children who come through the doors of Saint John’s is just as important as the investment we make to improve the lives of their mothers.
As a supporter of Saint John’s, you are doing this daily! Each time you volunteer to play with our toddlers, provide a healthy meal to our families or donate money to help us adhere to our mission, you are directly influencing the lives of the dozens of children who live at Saint John’s. Creating opportunities for personal growth and changing the cycle of homelessness is crucial during this time in their lives. Your generous donations and your time spent volunteering positively affects the future of these families who have experienced homelessness in our community. Each step we take to make a positive imprint on a homeless child’s life is one less family that will become homeless in the future.
The importance of your support cannot be understated, which is why it’s important for us to share the successes of young, eager kids doing well, as much as it’s important to share the victories of their mothers. If you follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SaintJohnsPRC), you might have seen Tazi’s story pop up on your feed recently. She is an incredible high school student who’s been living at Saint John’s with her mom for the past few months.
Tazi is a great student and well loved by her peers. She graduates this month from Sacramento High School with honors, was nominated to her Senior Prom court and has received a full college scholarship. Tazi plans to attend Santa Monica College for her general education classes and then transfer to UC Santa Cruz to study Anesthesiology. She has an incredibly bright future ahead of her, and we couldn’t be more proud of her accomplishments.
Without our donors and volunteers and the fantastic personal support system surrounding Tazi here at Saint John’s, these accomplishments would have been a challenge. Just graduating from high school, let alone receiving a scholarship to attend college would have been merely a dream. And now they are Tazi’s reality. As you can see from her shining example, your investment in the families of Saint John’s not only allows families a safe place to rebuild their lives, but you give our youth the ability to realize their dreams and potential. And yes…maybe one day putting us right out of business. Like I said, it’s a most unusual situation, but one filled with an abundance of hope.
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