To say Fadwa is driven is an understatement. She doesn’t dream of becoming a surgical nurse, she is actively taking steps to make it happen. And to make her mother proud.
Fadwa lost her mother to cancer when she was just 13 years old. Her father expected Fadwa to assume her mother’s responsibilities and moved the family often, keeping them distanced from any extended family. She was not allowed to have friends or participate in extracurricular activities. She attended five different high schools and managed to maintain excellent grades while she cooked, cleaned, and took care of her two brothers and father.
At 17, she was abandoned by her father and placed in SCO’s foster care program. SCO helped stabilize the teen, placed her with a foster family, and eventually was able to locate a maternal aunt who opened her heart and home to her long-lost niece through kinship foster care.
Despite her early challenges, Fadwa stays focused on the opportunities ahead of her. SCO’s foster care staff helped her prepare for college; guiding her through the application process and helping her achieve both a Dream USA Scholarship and a Youth in Foster Care Award. Currently a student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, SCO helped her secure an internship with a surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Fadwa’s goal is to keep her GPA high enough to get into nursing school. And we have no doubt she will achieve this and so much more.
After years of loving care at home, Asma and Neveed came to a difficult conclusion: that their son, Faiz, the eldest of five, would benefit from a residential school program. By age nine, Faiz was unable to speak and prone to self-injury. But when his parents sought support from the Robert J. McMahon Children’s Center and the on-campus Tyree Learning Center last year, everything began to change.
Upon arrival, recalls teacher Andrea Verios, “Faiz had no way to communicate. He was frustrated, sad and defiant, hitting his own face incessantly.” But in the Tyree Learning Center’s structured environment, Faiz flourished.
Andrea implemented a picture exchange system (PECS) book filled with sentence-starters like “I want,” “I see” or “I need” – and it unlocked the world for Faiz. Gaining the ability to communicate changed everything. In the classroom, Faiz earns prized rewards for his progress, such as balls or trampoline time. And he has developed a close relationship with his roommate.
Faiz is also gaining real independence, from putting on his shoes to setting the table for lunch, to proudly fetching the backpack and medical bag for weekly field trips to the park or library. “We’re working on financial concepts,” explains Andrea, “and he handles the trip money, taking real pride in making purchases for the group.”
Faiz goes home on weekends, where he uses PECS to do what had been impossible for the first nine years of his life: communicate with his own family. While home, he enjoys playing with his brothers and sisters, and loves to go outside into the community – something he had trouble doing in the past.
“His progress has been exponential,” says Andrea. “In barely a year, he’s surpassed everyone’s expectations. It’s been transformative.”
“It was a very hard decision to have him live away from home,” says Asma. “But for now, it’s the right place for him.”
“I’m going to be successful regardless of what I’ve been through." Learn More
“His progress has been exponential. In barely a year, he’s surpassed everyone’s expectations. It’s been transformative.” Learn More
148
students in our transfer high schools who were at risk of dropping out graduated with a Regents diploma
Last year, we helped
418
adults become employed heads of households