Jerrica Wesley - New U of A Freshman
We had a first in needs for our Back to School Spree/Supplies with Jerrica Wesley, a freshman at the U of A in Tucson. She graduated from high school with a 4.0 average and received a scholarship, but had a need of personal items for herself and her dorm. Jerrica started riding the bus with us to Abraham's Oasis when she was just beginning grade school. She says she was 4 or 5 years old when we first met her. She was raised by a single mom, and close, it always seemed to being one step away from the streets. They moved many times over the years and we would find her and her family or she would find us. Her family doesn't even have a car to get her to Tucson for college, so she has to depend on a relative to get her down there.

Update: Jerrica is settled in and has a job at Taco Bell right across the street from her dorm. School is going great. She got an A on her first paper. She has joined a lot of clubs, is making lots of friends and keeping very busy.

It is so wonderful to see such a success story with Jerrica. There are so many precious little ones like Jerrica just waiting for someone to walk beside them giving them hope. Become a Hope Specialist!

Hope Specialists in South Phoenix
Many students lined the corridor wall, as we walked to a classroom on one of the first days of the school semester. They just stood there expressionless; no smiles, no frowns, no life. Just blank stares. It was as if their spirit had been broken. Some of them came into the Power Fitness For Youth classroom for the orientation. Dan, very wisely, showed them the video of last year's program that KPNX, Channel 15 shot. Their little faces lit up as they recognized some of their friends having fun. It started to dawn on them that they had something to look forward to. They were glued to the TV as they watched the news clip. It was so tremendous to see a small kernel of hope begin to sprout. Everyone needs to have hope. Many of our children today in the inner city schools have lost hope. They have lost the ability to dream that they, too, can amount to something and have a life to look forward to. Thank you for being a part of making history for many of these young ones. Offering them a hope for a "Better Tomorrow".