Cars for Kids Car Donation Charity

When Eddie grew up with his mother, brother, and sister, a regular family meal was a tortilla with salt for seasoning.

His loving mother worked hard, but making ends meet was almost beyond her. His dad was not in the picture.

One day, Eddie came home from school to find his brother and sister hungry. He couldn’t take the sight of it any longer. “I decided that was enough. Something had to change.”

At fifteen, Eddie left the ninth grade to go to work.

Moving away from his mother and siblings in Arkansas, Eddie began living with his uncle, who had a construction job for him in San Antonio. There, Eddie had no friends. His absence from home was painful. The burden was lightened, however, by knowing that he made enough money to provide food and necessities for his brother and sister.

After some time, a co-worker many years older told Eddie that he saw something in him. “You know, you’re really good at this. But you could be doing much more. Why don’t you go to school? Why aren’t you in school?”

For Eddie, who left that path years before, the thought of graduating high school at twenty-one was far from appealing. But, his co-worker’s words worked on his imagination. He looked online and found Texans Can - San Antonio.

This was, Eddie says, “the best decision I ever made.”

At Texans Can - San Antonio, Eddie found staff and teachers who made him feel cared for—the first time he ever knew that feeling in school. He made friends. And he still worked construction, still sending money back home, while working for his high school diploma.

One day, one of Eddie’s friends, a fellow member on the basketball team, was struck by a car and died. Devastated by the loss, Eddie turned to the abundantly available emotional support from the staff at Texans Can. Through this time, Eddie connected with his math tutor, who became a mentor and friend. Eddie began to enjoy weekends.

“For the first time in my life, I actually got to be a kid.” His heavy responsibilities, he said, faded in those moments.

The impact Eddie’s mentor made on him stays with him to this day. Now, seven years after graduation, Eddie is an award-winning store manager for AT&T, a company he has stayed with since he graduated. He has traveled abroad, and he has purchased his second home. Because of his experiences at Texans Can - San Antonio and the success he has known since, he wants to give back, being a mentor to young men who, like him, have had to go without the love and guidance of a father.

Most important to Eddie is his family. Married with two small children, a six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, Eddie is grateful that they “will never know what it was like to struggle” as he did. “They will never know the pain of growing up without their father.”

And Eddie is a father figure to more than his children. Thanks to his hard work, his brother and sister were provided for. Both graduated and now, says Eddie, are “doing well,” and they now live in the same Arkansas community. If cousins need equipment so they can enjoy playing on the basketball team, Eddie is ready to provide. The beat of his heart is to be the father he never knew, and the one he found at Texans Can - San Antonio.

The new life he has found through Texans Can, Eddie says, is “truly amazing.”

There was a time when Ana didn’t have much hope for what her future might hold. Her days were filled with severe bouts of depression, sadness and even thoughts of suicide.

Today, Ana is a new mom, wife and a young woman who sees a positive outlook for herself and her family’s future. She credits Houston Can! Academy Hobby campus for helping change her life and providing the foundation she needed to pursue her dream of becoming a registered nurse. “When I was going to South Houston High School, I was always fighting, hanging out with the wrong crowd and not going to class,” said Ana. “I knew if I stayed there I wasn’t going to be able graduate so I could better my life.” Ana, like many at-risk students who attend Houston Can! Academy, just needed an educational environment to give them the hope to become somebody extraordinary despite the challenges they have faced in their life. “I came here three years ago in the middle of tenth grade,” she explained. “The environment has been really good. There haven’t been any fights and the teachers really care and take time. My favorite classes were reading and parenting, which was very helpful, especially since I was about to have a baby and I learned a lot.” Ana found teacher expectations to be high, but that they were always there for support. “I failed the TAKS once the science part, but I passed all the other subjects on the first try,” she said. “The teachers gave us a lot of extensive tutoring for the test which helped. If you want to come here and take care of your business, you can definitely do it here.” Part of the first graduating class of 2008, Ana didn’t wait to get her diploma before starting to take a few nursing classes at San Jacinto College. She says she is up for the challenge of finishing the four year program while juggling school, work and motherhood duties for her son, Julio Jr. “My sister died of AIDS and I wanted to be a Doctor, but that was going to take too long, explained Ana. “I still wanted to be in the medical field so that I can help others, and nursing is a good way to make a difference.”

Just two weeks after his nineteenth birthday, Gabriel Gutierrez had a tumor removed from his body.

When biopsy results came back, he was faced with a diagnosis of Stage 3 cancer, which had started to spread.

Doctors worked quickly to stop the spread to Gabriel’s brain. Now only a month after his birthday, he was in the ICU, receiving chemotherapy.

Since Gabriel started treatment, his mother, Patricia Solis, had to stop working. Bills, however, kept coming, and she turned to Texans Can Academies, where Gabriel was in his senior year. The school stepped in to help with food, utilities, and rental-assistance referrals. With these resources in place, Gabriel’s family could focus on what was most important: his recovery—and his future.

Over the next few months, Gabriel’s teachers called or texted to ask how he was. His family was assured that, while Gabriel was getting better, he could also still get his diploma. They were there to support him.

“The whole staff at Can is amazing at helping us,” Patricia said.

The family has known Texans Can for some time. Gabriel’s younger sister attends there also, and his older brother, now a student at St. Philip’s College, is a Texans Can graduate.

This May, the same will be true of Gabriel. Thanks to the support he and his family have received from Texans Can, Gabriel can look forward to a new part of his journey. His teachers say his courage has inspired them all.

“He wants to attend college and be a firefighter,” Patricia said.

Gabriel continues to battle his cancer, but his family is hopeful that chemotherapy will soon be behind him. He has much to look forward to.

She was bullied and sexually harassed. She wanted to tell someone, but was too ashamed. So she often considered suicide as her only solution.

“Middle school was very tough for me. I was bullied by other students. Girls and boys. I was the constant victim of sexual harassment. I tried to talk to my mom about it, but she wouldn’t listen. I needed help and she was just in another world.”

Tania needed someone to save her, but felt like a burden to her own mother.

“Sometimes I thought about how much better off my mom would be without me. I even considered taking my own life.”

“At that time it was hard to find someone who really cared about me. My teachers at my old school didn’t care if I succeeded or not. I was afraid to attend the high school in my neighborhood. I didn’t know if I’d be bullied even more by students who were so much bigger than me.”

“So I asked my mom if I could go to Texans Can Academies and I was really surprised when I got there. I found teachers who really cared about me.”

“I talk to my advisor almost every day and my history teacher, Mr. Vasquez, he inspires me to do more and be positive in life.”

“I’ve even participated in the Latinas in Progress program. I’ve received commended on two of my STAR tests - algebra and biology.”

“All of my experiences have helped shape me and I’m still learning. Since coming to Texans Can I care more about my grades, I socialize with people who have potential and goals. I’m more open to ideas and I’m just more mature.”

“Thanks to Texans Can I’m on my way to earning my high school diploma. In just a few months, I’ll be the first person in my family to graduate high school.”

“After that, my goal is to become a doctor by attending Texas A&M University or the University of North Texas. My advisor is even helping me look for scholarships. I want to be a doctor because of my experiences and because I want to help people. I want to save lives.”

“I know it won’t be easy, but with Texans Can Academies behind me I know I can do it. Maybe one day when I become a doctor, I can help people like Texans Can.”