START RIGHT NOW INC
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Mission Statement
Starting Right, Now serves homeless youths by providing stable housing consistent, one-on-one mentoring, encouraging future and long-term perspectives, and teaching enduring skills for self-sufficiency.
About This Cause
In 2000, I carried dinner into a motel in Tampa for the family living there. I had contacted a school social worker about helping a homeless family for the holidays. I had just overcome some hardship of my own and intended to do philanthropic work with the goals of passing on kindness and rediscovering my purpose. I fulfilled their wish list and prepared food for them to enjoy on the holiday. I was proud of my generosity. Once I left though, and fully assessed my deed, I realized I had not truly helped this family. On December 26th they would be in the exact same situation as two days prior: they would have no savings, struggle to get food, and face a future with limited options. It bothered me I had not done enough. With this thought in mind, I turned to mentoring a homeless high school student. This relationship was not one day of help but rather a long-term endeavor, to achieve stability for a lifetime. This time my approach would not be a Band-Aid but a real cure. I helped this student gain employment, secure housing, become financially literate, graduate high school, and complete college applications and scholarships propelling her to higher education. She now attends law school at American University in Washington D.C. To reiterate - this student went from homeless to law school. Our relationship began ten years ago, we still keep in consistent contact. I can say confidently she will never be homeless again. When acknowledged by the City of Tampa for my service to the community in 2007, Mayor Pam Iorio challenged me to fashion a city-wide program aiding unaccompanied youths based on my approach. Thus, Starting Right, Now (SRN) was founded. The organization implements a comprehensive, human resources program to enable healthy, stable living with the ultimate goal of eradicating the intergenerational cycle of homelessness and poverty. Today, SRN has evolved into a targeted, “high-touch” program with outcomes validating our unique approach. Currently, SRN serves 190 homeless youths with a 95% high school graduation rate. This past year, we propelled 100% of our students to secondary education with more than $1,000,000 in scholarships for their education. To elaborate on our organization’s mission, I would like to share a story written by one of our participants: I grew up in the projects, full of bad people my entire childhood - drug dealers, killers and rapists. People would visit our home, lay their guns down and start measuring drugs. I learned how to break down weed quickly. I sold pills, shot guns and robbed people. My mom has spent a lot of my life in jail. I do not know my father. This was all normal. Starting high school I decided to change my life by trial and error. I associated with different people, acting how they wanted, not realizing I just needed to be me. I was homeless, living with and between friends’ houses and it wasn’t going well. I was in sports and trying to do well academically. My athletic involvement was going well, but I was struggling academically. I was angry all the time. My normal response was anger and frustration. I was trying to make it, but I did not have the internal or external resources I needed. My junior year of high school I was given the opportunity to join a non-profit organization, Starting Right, Now that would mentor me. Initially, I just joined to get a bed. I did not realize they would help me with housing, school expenses, a job and emotional support. I needed their support if I was really going to change my life. It has not always been easy. It was difficult to work with this program because they ask for full accountability of my academic performance, finances, and personal integrity. Ms. Vicki was always checking my grades and involved in my school. She came to my games and matches and talked to the assistant principal, checking on me. She made sure I was doing all my projects, she texted me, called me, checked in with me. For the first time, I have people in my life who are able to be there fully for me. I have a mentor and a complete support system who cares about me and who I will become in the world. I have people who have helped me create a vision of who I can become and what my life can be. They have helped me apply to college, apply for financial aid, write my college essays and really consider what I can accomplish in the next few years. I graduated from high school, and attend Coastal Carolina University. I know I will make something of my life. I was worried my past would catch up with me; all the times I was arrested; all the times I didn’t take school seriously; all the times I lost my temper. Those times have changed forever. The program made me participate in leadership camps, Dale Carnegie, work part time, never miss school, turn in all assignments and attend anger management classes. Because of this program and the changes in me and my life, I want to be connected to this program forever. I am still Randall, I just now have more possibilities for my future and for myself. I want to come back and tell students my story and help them create a new vision for their lives. SRN ends homelessness for an unaccompanied youth – a federal term for a student living without a parent or guardian – through one-on-one mentoring, providing a stable home, obtaining employment, teaching financial literacy/life skills and encouraging educational achievement. Our organization currently serves homeless unaccompanied youths in Hillsborough County, ensuring graduation from high school and continuation to the military, vocational training or higher education. Students are recommended by school personnel who know their background and academic potential. This population of 15-20 year olds, both male and female represents a group of students who have made personal commitments to prioritize their education despite their unfortunate circumstances. We are the only organization in the State offering this holistic approach to curing the cycle of generational poverty. And, we hope to take this across the state and then the nation. For each student, SRN provides consistent, one-on-one mentoring, encourages future and long-term perspectives, and teaches enduring skills for self-sufficiency. Through this personal education, with an adult mentor, SRN enables each student to make profound and lasting life changes promoting stability and growth, passed on to future generations. This process ensures our influence is a serious and enduring solution to homelessness. For each individual student, the help provided by SRN is immeasurable. Before entering our program, these youths have no other support and can envision no other goals beyond simply surviving. Because they are in survival mode, these students are forced to make dangerous and unhealthy decisions. Many of our participants have been involved in illicit activities, such as prostitution, drug dealing, stealing, and violence. With no stable home, unaccompanied youths struggle to regularly attend school, disregard eating healthily, and display higher rates of physical and mental illness. SRN eliminates this survival burden for our students and allows them the privilege of developing their own personal character and making obtainable goals. SRN participants show consistently lower rates for all the harmful behaviors mentioned. They have been removed from a defeatist environment and welcomed into a world of encouragement, comfort, and personal intent. The long-term effects of this development are represented in a group of young people who no longer find themselves fighting the world, but rather revel in the right to choose their own challenges and celebrate their victories. SRN is proud to empower youths in this way.