Wishes & Dreams for the Holidays....

Last year we raised $ 465 together, most of it to help a four year old angel child I call Angelina whose mother had abandoned her, and a 13 year old great kid who wanted acting lessons and ended up with that and ski lessons thanks to the generosity of my friends and visitors here.



This year I am again asking for help. This year I have arranged for any money raised to be funneled into an anonymous fund for one of my clients, a 19 year old high school senior who is working her ass off to get to college.



She shows up at school every day, this year taking several college prep courses and one advanced placement class that is very difficult for her. I saw her last week and she was wearing a new black leather coat that made her look very fashionable and very pretty.



She was close to tears because she had borrowed the coat from her older sister who accused her of being disrespectful by wearing it. "I don't have a good coat of my own," she said. "I just borrowed it for one day so I could look good today because I had a job interview and she called me disrespectful. That is the worse thing anyone could accuse me of."



Her name is Z and she is soley responsible for herself. She gets no money from her father, no rides to school, no help with clothes or books or food. She hears from her mother maybe once a year, and when her mother does make contact she is never drug free and is most often asking for money for herself.



Z worked all summer so she can support herself during the school year. She resourcefully saved to buy an old car which she sees as her salvation so she can get to and from school and work. She lived with her father until his girlfriend told her to leave, and now she lives with a boyfriend who she knows is not good for her, he is too verbally explosive, but he's at least present. "Sometimes he actually cares about me. And I have to stay there for now," she tells me.



She will be applying to college in a couple of months and we have hope that she will be accepted into a program that helps urban kids prepare and succeed. We have hope that she will get a housing scholarship. She will be the first and only member of her family to go to college and she is determined to do that. Academics do not come easy for her, but she is determined.



She has a hard time trusting adults for good reason. But lately she is letting herself cry in therapy, starting to realize that she has not had the luxury of trusting anyone. We call ourselves Team Z, we and her guidance counselor and one other adult from an Outward Bound Program. If it sounds incomprehensible that a high school student would be on her own like this, I agree. But it's true.



"I show up for school everyday and I try to look like everyone else. I don't want anyone knowing that I don't have anyone to help me like most of the other kids do."



This week Z is praying hard that she will be offered the job at the gas station across the street from school. "I NEED that job, kj" she tells me. And I know that is true too.



So this year I am asking for help for Z. Contributions will go directly toward giving her a little bit of breathing room, $$ for college applications, will provide a plan B back door so she can leave her boyfriend and perhaps rent a small room somewhere.



Honestly I want to raise $ 1000. I will start by contributing $ 100 myself.



I will appreciate any effort to spread the word beyond my own blog. I told Z I plan to be at her college graduation. It won't be easy for her, but she is determined. I am totally convinced that any support given to her will be repaid by the strength of her efforts.


.
Please help if you can. Last year we had direct contributions, art auctions and give aways, pay pal transfers. You will find a 'Donate' button on my sidebar where credit cards can be used, or paypal, or feel free to email me at karenjasper@comcast.net
.

And please, if you cannot afford $, your wishes and prayers count just as much. There is magic in our blogs this time of year. Offer a kind word or do a kind act for someone else and I assure you that will come around also to help Z. I've come to believe that the universe works that way.

.

Always, thank you. It is my privilege to be able to even ask.
.
Love
kj