What the Kids Say about Summer Reading!

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On average, students in the United States lose up to two months of reading skill level each summer, requiring teachers to spend 4-6 weeks of class time at the beginning of each school year to help children catch up. Teachers refer to this as “the summer learning slide,” and unfortunately, the learning loss is cumulative from year to year. If a child doesn’t read during the summer months during the early elementary grades, there is a profound effect during the later elementary and middle-school grades and is a strong predictor of future drop-out rates.

These effects are even more serious for children in low-income communities, who start out with many strikes against them. Significant research shows a strong connection between poverty and academic underachievement. Low-income children enter kindergarten less prepared than more-affluent classmates and struggle to ever catch up. Frequent moves from unstable housing lead to switching schools and putting kids further behind. Food insecurity means that kids are hungry, not an ideal situation for learning. And loving, hard-working parents must work more than a full-time job to provide for their families, meaning there rarely is an adult at home to help with homework or chauffeur to extracurricular activities, even if there were the funds to pay for such enriching activities. All of this matters because education is the key to breaking generational cycles of poverty. If a child is not reading at grade level by the third grade, he or she is 70% more likely to go to prison or live on welfare than to finish high school – a stark reality, indeed.

Several summers ago, we launched the Summer Reading / Learning Loss Prevention Program as a pilot project in Sacramento. The results were outstanding, and we took the program to scale. in 2016, 95% of the children enrolled in LifeSTEPS’s Summer Reading Program maintained their current reading levels (that is, they had no learning loss), and more than half increased their reading by one or more grade levels.

But don’t take our word for it! Here’s what a couple of young scholars at one of our Sacramento sites had to say about the program:

https://youtu.be/N2jG5g0gKW0

Partnership for HOPE Brings Education Goals within Reach!

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Danielle Martin was a new Partnership for HOPE scholar in 2016.  Her path toward becoming a PFH scholar took many detours before Danielle was able to find stability in her life and in her education.  Growing up in foster care and moving house to house, school to school was not conducive to educational success and focus.  Now as a young adult, Danielle has taken control of her own life. She lives in a stable home at Terracina Apartments in Los Angeles and is on track to graduate with her AA degree in psychology this coming June.

 

For every roadblock that life threw at her, Danielle responded with a double dose of determination and resilience. Danielle has taken her own struggles and used them as motivation to empower other young women to aim for their personal goals as well.  Danielle founded an organization geared toward girls in foster care and organizes an annual conference to focus on positivity and empowerment.

 

Danielle, herself, uses her artistic talents to share spoken word poetry with a positive message.  She has traveled to the State Capitol with California Youth Connection (CYC), a youth led organization that develops leaders who empower each other and their communities to transform the foster care system through legislative, policy, and practice change.

 

The Partnership for HOPE award that Danielle received in Fall 2016 was a catalyst for her future academic success.  After Danielle graduates with her AA degree she has plans to enter UCLA and earn a Master’s in Social Work degree in pursuit of a career as a child therapist. Danielle knows what it’s like to be that kid without a home or the student who never starts and end a grade in the same school.  Now with help from Partnership for HOPE Danielle is on the path to bring HOPE to more students just like herself.

JB Brown Fund Scholarships Ignite Hope!

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When it comes to awarding JB Brown college scholarships, one USA Properties Fund community shines like a beacon on a hill, brighter than any other.

In the heart of San Jose, the Mayfair Apartments are home to an extremely diverse population; many are recent immigrants and are still struggling to learn English. However, this doesn’t stop Jasmine Carter, Mayfair’s Property Manager, from promoting the JB Brown College Scholarship Program and encouraging her residents to apply.

Jasmine posts flyers on community boards, puts one on every door, and even hosts a JB Brown Scholarship Program informational meeting to explain the program, the requirements, and how to fill out the application. She makes herself available to answer any questions they have and helps each applicant when they need documents copied or faxed.

At first it was a slow start to spread the word among the resident youth and for the youth to believe that going to college is attainable. Most have watched their parents work long hours in low wage jobs… most had no one in their family or circle of friends who would dream about something as big as earning a college degree, but eventually Jasmine’s efforts paid off. After the oldest in a family of five children applied and was awarded their first scholarship, the next sibling was excited to do the same. Today there are four siblings from this one family all going to San Jose State University and one will be graduating soon!

Incredibly, for the Spring 2017 semester there are eight Mayfair residents attending college on a JB Brown Scholarship!

Currently Hien, Anh, Luong, and Van Pham are all at San Jose State; four other individuals from different Mayfair families are now attending college throughout Northern California. Karla Mondragon is at UC Santa Cruz in her second year; Nguyen Tran is attending at Sacramento State University; and Alvaro Gutierrez and Victoria Rico have joined the Pham family at San Jose State.

Jasmine has witnessed a change come over Mayfair since so many families have a son or daughter in college. In her engagement with residents she sees more of a comfortable confidence; more residents are speaking English, more are being responsible and paying their rent on time.

Jasmine feels personal satisfaction from knowing she has played a role in the future success of her residents, “It makes me feel like we do WAY more than provide an apartment to families. We are helping these individuals create a better life for themselves – giving them an opportunity they might not have had otherwise, or that they would have struggled more to achieve. No one said we HAD to offer college scholarships to residents. We could simply be a property management company that moves people in, takes their rent, and fixes their work orders. But we’re NOT! We stand out from others, we CARE! In a money hungry world – where everything revolves around “what am I getting out of this” – we only want to see how others are benefiting and what they’re going to do to better themselves. We’re not asking for anything in return. WHO DOES THAT?! That’s why it’s so important to me, because it proves that we can stand out for the greater good.”

Community Love!

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  Every once in a while, something happens in life that can be considered truly miraculous.

mr-duongHACSC resident Mr. Duong had a stroke in October 2016, which left him unable to eat solid food, walk, stand up by himself, or take care of any of his own needs. After a long hospital stay he grew weak and frail. His condition was deteriorating fast, and so his doctors approved him to return home with hospice care.

His family was told he would pass away in a short time. A few weeks or days were all they could hope for.

Mr. Duong was 92 years old then. He had lived a good long life. He had enjoyed his friends and neighbors at Lenzen Gardens, and up until his stroke, he had been an active member of his community. Mr. Duong loved to come to LIfeSTEPS events and potlucks. He was the resident who invited his neighbors to join him–and he loved to document all the events with his professional quality photographs. He even volunteered his time translating for other Vietnamese residents.

When Mr. Duong returned home with hospice, he no longer remembered his friends and neighbors–he didn’t even recognize some of his own family.  He didn’t remember Audrey either, LifeSTEPS Director of Social Services (DSS), but it didn’t stop her from reaching out to Mr. Duong and his family. She offered to rally his Lenzen Garden’s neighbors to come and visit him, to try and reconnect with Mr. Duong and bring comfort and companionship for the little time he had left.

Over the next month his neighbors stopped by his apartment to visit with Mr. Duong. They talked to him and he listened, though he never spoke. Audrey also made home visits to check on his needs and offer emotional support.

His neighbors didn’t stop coming and they didn’t give up. Towards the middle of November, Mr. Duong smiled. Then he spoke. Each day that passed he made more progress. He began to eat solid food, and his sense of humor returned. His neighbors helped him take short strolls outside–and eventually he started remembering people’s faces and names.

By the end of November Mr. Duong’s doctor took him off of hospice care. Instead, a plan for home health care was needed. Audrey referred him to Asian American Home Health to help assist with getting his services started.

Mr. Duong attended the Thanksgiving potluck just like he had done many times before. He was there smiling, telling jokes and taking pictures. Audrey presented Mr. Duong with a Certificate of Appreciation from LifeSTEPS for his many years of service and community engagement. It was an emotional moment for everyone there. “If not for all of you here, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this potluck today,”  Mr. Duong said in his acceptance speech.

For Audrey and everyone who supported Mr. Duong’s recovery, it was a powerful lesson in love, community, and life.  

Even when he was “supposed to be” dying, Mr. Duong engaged his community; together, they helped him live.