My "Ah-ha" moment

I posted this on the Indiana VISTA blog, but I felt that I should post it here as well. (Katy, I hope this is an okay post for now. I'll update again soon.)

I found this short report on CNN.com that put a lot of things into perspective for me. Personally, it helped me realize how much of a difference we as VISTAs can make. My VISTA position is event planning for the Starfish Initiative, a one-on-one mentoring organization that targets low-income high school students. Their goal is to help these students graduate from high school and get into a higher education program (usually college/university).

I realize now how much this economy is taking its toll on families. We tend to think that its down turn has only caused stress on adults that have lost jobs or taken pay cuts. Unfortunately, most of those adults have children. Tight budgets and home foreclosures are forcing families to completely change their lifestyles and some families are facing homelessness.

So what happens to these children that are also forced to pack up their possessions and move out of the only house they have ever known? They're grades are slipping, they're dropping out of school. This is the time that it is most important to encourage and do whatever is necessary to get our kids to graduate high school and move on to some kind of post secondary education. We need to educate them and get them to understand that they will be the ones that can keep our economy strong.

Well, enough of my rambling. I could go on for awhile, but I'm sure you get the idea... here's the CNN report. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/10/homeless.children/index.html?eref=rss_topstoriesI hope this makes you think as much as it made me.