I’d first like to thank Seattle Education Access for inviting me to speak at this morning’s benefit breakfast. I’d also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have gathered together today in order to celebrate the achievements of SEA – both the achievements of the organization itself, as well as those of the students that SEA aims to serve. With particular consideration for the current economic climate, your presence today is especially appreciated – these are surely rough times for everyone. However, with hefty budget cuts to education, increased college tuition, and reduced federal financial assistance, youth from low-income communities who had already been facing nearly insurmountable challenges in pursuing higher education, or in other words, in pursuing the opportunity to overcome poverty, are experiencing a particular blow. Therefore, the vision of ensuring access to education for these communities is a timely and urgent one.

As feminist educator and social activist Bell Hooks insists, “Being oppressed means the absence of choices.” Access to and the obtaining of an education, in contrast, generate the presence of choices. The access to higher education, this opportunity for choice about what one can manifest in his or her life, is exactly what SEA works so diligently to provide through an array of indispensable services for disadvantaged young adults who have incredible potential and valuable life experience yet very little resources.

I have known and have been involved with SEA since 2002, when the organization consisted of founder Polly Trout as its sole staff. At that time, Polly worked with very little resources, holding tutoring and mentoring sessions in cafes and providing small scholarships to homeless youth eager to overcome poverty, transform their lives, and attend college. Since then, I have had the honor and the privilege to witness Polly’s vision grow over the past ten years into a thriving organization that serves over four hundred well-deserving young people with the dedication of five staff members and dozens of volunteers. I have personally seen how SEA’s continued commitment to this vision has sparked major transformation in the lives of many of these young people, including my own.

My involvement with SEA began during my first year in community college in 2002. At twenty-four years old, it had been ten years since I had received any formal education; the eighth grade was the last year I had completed in school before becoming homeless for the following seven years. Life as a homeless teen meant both inspiring encounters with intellectuals, artists and activists as well as harsh lessons in survival. I continue to be inspired by the many brilliant people I met during this time. From them I learned about a variety of political ideologies, spiritual beliefs and social justice issues. I involved myself with artists and did street performance as part of political theaters, traveling to gatherings that taught workshops on cultural and political expression through art and performance. Life on the streets and on the road was an immensely valuable education – these life experiences have contributed toward the development of critical thinking, self-discipline and inner resources, qualities that I continue to draw upon in my academic endeavors. However, I grew exhausted of struggling to survive in often-dangerous environments and longed for further intellectual stimulation. I aspired to attend the university, to create a meaningful career and to make significant social contributions.

Because of these personal and academic aspirations, I worked hard to obtain stable housing and, by spring 2002, I completed my G.E.D. and enrolled in community college classes. As a non-traditional, first generation college student who had grown up as low-income, higher education felt extremely foreign and difficult to navigate. It was as if I had immigrated to an entirely unfamiliar culture, with its foreign language and words, its complicated bureaucracy, its assumptions that somehow I should already know how to operate within it, its assumptions that I was a ‘have’ rather than a ‘have not.’ Throughout my time in the community college and up until I received my Bachelor’s Degree with Honors from the University of Washington in 2008, SEA provided me with practical guidance, tutoring, scholarships and invaluable moral support sensitive and respectful to my experience with homelessness and poverty. Furthermore, the organization provided me these things in a unique manner that felt truly empowering as they fostered a relationship that encouraged me to be proactive and accountable. Most importantly, the SEA community of staff and students continues to inspire me, particularly in the ways that my experience with the organization has strengthened my own commitments to social justice. I truly believe that all of these combined experiences with SEA have been a significant factor in my success today, evident in the fact that, as I stand here speaking to you all today, I am currently entering my third year as a PhD student in UC Berkeley’s department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. I have infinitely more choices as to where I want to take my life than I had ever imagined upon first meeting SEA founder Polly Trout in a small café in Seattle’s University District almost ten years ago.

In addition to receiving a variety of services from SEA, I was also a volunteer for SEA’s Scholarship Review Committee during my last year at the University of Washington. I was extremely impressed with the level of organization and dedication of the SEA staff and volunteers. The most striking thing from this experience as a volunteer, however, was the incredible stories of strength and perseverance I had heard from the youth who were interviewing for SEA scholarships. I learned that my own story was not unique and was awed by the sheer numbers of young people who displayed amazing tenacity and potential.

In closing, I concur with American philosopher and academic Allen Bloom, who insists that “Education is the movement from darkness to light.” Seattle Education Access provides invaluable support for low-income young people attempting to tread this difficult pathway from darkness to light, from poverty to meaningful careers and empowerment. Because of this, I believe that SEA is also immensely worthy of support, which will, in turn, open doorways for well deserving young people to enter the classroom, a place that Bell Hooks refers to as a “location of possibility in which to labor for freedom, to demand of ourselves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries.”

Thank you for your presence today and thank you for listening with an openness of mind and heart.

Four years ago I would have never imagined that I would be applying to law school. I had just turned 17 and was living with my parents.  My home life before I came to Seattle and started college was barely tolerable. Many mornings I would wake up to the sound of my step-father’s yelling.  He was always yelling. One day he was in a particularly foul mood and, as I was followed his half-spit instructions on how to properly fry eggs, he slammed one in my face and told me that I had three minutes to clean up and go back to cooking.  Incidences like this were routine occurrences back then.  One day I decided that I was going to take my life into my own hands and run away from home.  I was afraid that if I stayed I wouldn’t finish high school or go to college.  My nine brothers and sisters never finished college and I was afraid that I would end up like them, with many children, on welfare and without any hope. I grabbed my backpack, walked two miles to the freeway and hitchhiked to Seattle.

I was homeless for a short period of time, but then found out that there were places that helped youth in my situation, such as Seattle Education Access (SEA).  I took advantage of that and was off the streets in two weeks.  The first thing I did was enroll in Running Start.  I was so happy that I finally had the opportunity to go to college!  Seattle Education Access helped me while I was in Running Start by helping me with tutors for math and helping me pay for school supplies. Later, when my younger sister came to live with me, SEA helped her too.

If it weren’t for SEA’s timely scholarships, my sister and I would have been out on the streets.  They also helped my sister learn how to drive and helped her through school as well.  When I need a tutor for my LSATs, they were there. When I got my first apartment, they cosigned for me. When I needed help with my essays to transfer out of community college and into UW, they were there. When I was crying because no matter how hard I worked, no matter how much I did, I was unable to put food on the table and keep a roof over mine and my sister’s head, they were there.  Without Seattle Education Access, I wouldn’t be applying to law school and looking forward to graduating with my Bachelor’s degree today.  They provided me with the safety net that my family couldn’t provide.  My success in school is because of their help and the success I had also inspired my family to go back to school as well.

I later fixed my relationship with my parents.   Over the years, they have really improved and are amazing people now who care a lot about my younger brother’s education and spend day and night tutoring him and making sure that he goes to college.  Their efforts and the changes they have made have shown me how much people can change.  It’s really inspiring to hear them talking about college to my younger brother and encouraging him to go. They are wonderful parents now.  My brothers and sisters, over the years, were inspired to go back to school and get an education.  My older sister is now almost finished with her associate’s degree!

I now want to devote my life to helping those who have been marginalized and held down by becoming an international human rights attorney. In order to learn more about working in the legal field, I worked for a summer at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.  Working there showed me what working in a law office was like and reinforced my determination to finish school and work as an attorney.  I also worked for the Washington State Senate as an intern.  The work I did there (research on issues and bills) reinforced my desire to get a legal education.  Every step of the way, Seattle Education Access provided me with the support I needed.

I was recently accepted as a full-time JD student at the University of the District of Columbia-David A. Clarke School of Law and was offered a merit scholarship. I am moving to Washington DC at the end of July.  Classes start August 8^th.  At this school I will get the education I need to follow my dream of becoming an international human rights attorney.  Thanks to the support I received at SEA, I was able to have the opportunity to fulfill my dream.

Donating to this organization changes lives.  I have never seen or heard of an organization that makes an impact in the lives of those it serves locally like Seattle Education Access.  If you want to donate money to an organization that uses its dollars wisely to ensure that the underserved have a fighting chance in achieving higher education, then please donate to Seattle Education Access today.  A few dollars can change the life of one person and everyone around that person, as it did me.

At the age of eight, I arrived in Seattle May 1^st, 2001 with my mother and sister. We rode on the Greyhound bus from California, and prior to that we had actually traveled through Mexico in a bus as well. When we arrived in Mexicali, one of the border cities, we crossed in a car with my great aunt and her daughter. With our Mexican passports and Visa we were permitted to cross over to the United States for a couple hours, just enough time to “shop”. I did not cross the border illegally, but once my mom bought another set of bus passes I seriously doubted we were coming to the United States just for a quick shopping trip. Once again we boarded the bus and headed towards Seattle, where my mother had a job set up for her as a live in nanny of three young kids. It was through her job at a hotel that she learned of a family that needed someone to watch their kids and keep the house tidy. That is how my life in the United States had started.

I grew up with my drunk father breaking into our home every weekend, and a mother who left us home in order to make enough money to get through the month. I have two older brothers and a younger sister. In Mexico, life as a single parent is hell, and I saw that suffering in my mother. I come from an illiterate grandmother, parents that completed elementary school, and a family where having kids before the age of eighteen is normal. I wanted to prove to myself that I would become the person I chose to be, and not become a person determined by the circumstance. Even though I grew up knowing I was not an American Citizen, I told myself I would go to college because I committed myself to it, no matter how hard it would be. I was going to prove myself and in doing so, encourage and show my family that nothing is stopping them.

Growing up in the United States I felt very alone, just having my sister and my mom was not enough for me. I missed spending holidays with the whole family and feeling like I belonged. As time went along, I met a boy when I was in middle school. I was very foolish then and soon became pregnant. At the age of fourteen I gave birth to my rambunctious, beautiful and loving son Oscar. As with most teenage parents, his father and I did not last long and he chose to not be a part of his son’s life. I went through high school raising a kid alone with support from my family and trying to make it to classes. There were many sleepless days along with stressful ones. College was always on my mind. Yes it was difficult raising a kid and being a student but when you’re committed, nothing gets in the way.

There have been several people that have helped me get to where I am now, and Seattle Education Access is one of my supports. I first heard of SEA through my public health nurse. I contacted them my junior year in high school, and I was set up with Jason R. who would become my tutor and mentor through the whole college application process and scholarship search. Through these two years I have gotten close to Jason and another SEA volunteer, Cristina G.. who has become my inspiration. They mean so much to me. I am so grateful for SEA and the people who make it happen: Polly, Anthon, and everyone else.

Now, Oscar is going to be four in May and I feel old at just eighteen. My plans for college are to go into architecture and give back to my community, just as the wonderful people I have mentioned above are doing. I was accepted into the University of Washington and was also awarded a privately funded scholarship, The Costco Diversity Scholarship. It gives me a total of $40,000 for four years which makes me more than happy. Being an undocumented student and a teen parent has not stopped me one bit. I hope I can reach out to more students and encourage them to chase their goals and become the person they want to be. As for me, I will be at the UW for the next couple years, thanks to everyone at SEA.

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Kathleen was not receiving any treatment at that time and suffered a lot from the illness. But one day, she decided not to just sit there and feel sorry for herself. She found that SEA need volunteer tutors and joined in the organization.

Since 2008, Kathleen’s been tutoring and preparing students for the SAT and COMPASS tests and later joined the Scholarship Review Committee. She also volunteers helping other MS patients, but her experience with SEA gives her the most inspiration.

Kathleen told us, “The students in SEA are incredible. They have so many difficulties in life but still dreaming of going to school. They inspired me a lot, and they make me feel that I still have something to offer.”

Learn more about volunteering at SEA.

We’d like to invite all supporters of Seattle Education Access to come out for a unique evening of film and discussion, as SEA joins two community partners for the Seattle screening of award winning documentary: “ON THE EDGE” (60 min, Diane Nilan and Laura Vazquez, 2011), followed by a panel discussion with the film’s producer Diane Nilan, SEA founder Polly Trout, SEA’s resident advocate Brittney Ferara, and Tim Harris, founder of the Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project.

ON THE EDGE, featuring 7 women who lost their housing for a variety of reasons, gives a painfully intimate look at the entwined connection between poverty, housing issues, social problems, addictions, family crises, and gender-related injustices. These compelling and forthcoming experts on homelessness shine a bright, unmitigated light on systemic and personal causes of their struggles, illuminating what has been a dark corner of social inaction and concern.

The discussion will be fairly informal, but we’re particularly interested in thinking about the problems addressed by the film, and the ways in which Seattle Education Access and Real Change are working with people here in Seattle to confront these issues.

This event is being sponsored by Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice, as part of their ongoing weekly film series “Friday Night at the Meaningful Movies.” As always, this screening is FREE and open to the public, though donations will be graciously accepted by all participating non-profits at the event.

Below are some links to the official website for the film, HEAR US (the nonprofit behind the film), REAL CHANGE, and Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice’s Meaningful Movies series . We hope you can join us for what promises to be an engaging and inspiring discussion!

WHEN: Friday, May 20, 2011 – 7:00-9:30 pm

WHERE: Keystone United Church of Christ, 5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle (Wallingford) View Map

For more information:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=221052874578599

On the Edge official site: http://ontheedge.niu.edu/

“Friday Night at the Meaningful Movies”: http://www.MeaningfulMovies.org
Social Justice Films & Community Discussion …Every Friday Night
All Films At: Keystone United Church of Christ, 5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle (Wallingford) View Map

HEAR US is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to giving voice and visibility to homeless children and youth.

Real Change exists to create opportunity and a voice for low-income people while taking action to end homelessness and poverty.

Seattle Education Access provides higher education advocacy and opportunity to people struggling to overcome poverty and adversity.

This post was written by Tania Boster, SEA Board Member and event organizer. Thank you, Tania!

Seeking a new life and a way out of poverty, my parents emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico City 18 years ago. They brought my elder sister who was four years old and me, at the age of three.

My Dad sought to progress and achieve the American dream that most of the people who came to the North talked about.  They hoped for a better life for my sister and I. Regardless of this transition, I still grew up living in poverty.

After arriving in America, my family and I moved into my Uncles two-bedroom apartment in Burien. We were living with my two cousins, uncle and aunt. Since then we moved from one place to another.

Constantly moving was harder when my sister and I had started school, especially since we did not know English for the first two years of school. Understanding the homework was tough. Unfortunately, my parents were not able to help me in school. With the exception of teachers and many tutors, I guided my self all throughout my education. I did not have the support that most of my peers had at home. Most of this has to do with the fact that my parents are not familiar with the school system here in America and because they did not speak English. I recall that by second grade, I was always determined to turn my homework in on time. My parents never told me to do my homework and I did not even know about college as I was growing up. I was a very rare kid because of the fact that I did not need an authoritative figure to push me to do well in school. School has always been my number one priority and I feel that this has to do with me having to witness my sister’s negative example.

Unlike me, my sister did need someone to push her to do well in school and since my parents did not take the responsibility to guide us through out our education it was easier for her to give up and drop out her sophomore year in high school. My sister would skip her classes most of the time. No one knew about it until we received a letter from school in which she was being sent to court for all her unexcused absences. When my parents found out, their solution to the problem was to have her dropout and work instead. I was astonished by their decision. After she dropped out, my father had an accident at work and he was unable to work and my mother was unemployed. Through out the time that neither of them worked, we were dependent on my sister to pay the rent for our apartment.

On the other hand, I was doing great in high school. My grades were very high, so in  my junior year my counselor talked to me about going to college. I took her advice and began applying to colleges. Money was an issue at that time. My parents were doing odd jobs and their income was not steady. I began to work part-time and save up some money. Sometime I even support my family with utility bills.

Looking back to the beginning of our arrival in the U.S. I still wonder how I made it. I am grateful that I have decided to follow my own path; instead of dropping out, getting married or pregnant. Now that I am at the University of Washington, I still continue to be on my own. I do not have the financial support from my parents, as many of my peers do. I, like many others, have to work harder.

I knew SEA from an older sister who got help from them with her GED. So my sister and I set up an appointment with one of the members at SEA, and that was how my story with SEA started in 2009.

SEA helped me get a scholarship by making me an appointment with their scholarship committee. Then they guided me through the process by emailing me on what exactly I needed to do in order to get the scholarship.

SEA has influenced me to continue my education. I understand that education is our only tool to get out of poverty and it is one of the most successful ways of making changes in society. I definitely value education more. I value what SEA does for people who do not have it easy in life.

Over all, I am grateful that I am taking advantage of the education here in America. I am the first to graduate from high school and the first attending a four-year university out of my family members. I want to be a role model for my younger siblings.

I am determined to make significant contributions to society in the near future. I recently got invited to my former high school to speak to other students who are in a situation like mine. (A situation in which their parents are disconnected with the school system and therefore their childrens education, a situation in which their dream of attending a four year University seems very unlikely because of the lack of their parents financial support.) I gave Hispanic students a speech about going to college and closing the achievement gap for Latinos. We have to think of the future and education is our only defense. The economy is just getting worse as new generations become part of the labor force. Tuition continues to rise as financial aid declines and this just makes attending a higher education even harder for students like myself.

Here are a few highlights of the students we served in 2010:

• 419 students served in 2010
• 4,017 direct service staff hours
• 116 students received $62,140.49 in scholarships
• 30% of SEA students complete a program of study *
• 14% completed an AA/AS or BA degree
• 100% received free academic advising and career counseling
• 74% are enrolled in school in good academic standing or have graduated
• 74% are 1^st generation college attendees
• 38% are 1^st generation High School/GED graduates
• 100% are low-income
• 82% have experienced homelessness
• 15% have been in foster care **
• 71% are people of color: 36% Black/African/AA; 29% White; 7% Asian; 16% Latino; 2% Native American; 8% Mixed Race; 2% Other/Unknown
• 22% are immigrants
• 34% are LGBTQ
• 30% are single parents (73 children total)
• 57% Female, 41% Male, 2% Transgender

Volunteer Hours in 2010:

• 40 Tutors volunteered 682 hours
• 10 Special Project Volunteers donated 100 total hours
• 24 Leadership Volunteers donated 940 total hours
• 74 Total Volunteers worked a total of 1,722 hours

*Longitudinal statistics based on students receiving scholarships or 5+ hours of direct service
** By partnering with agencies that specialize in serving former foster youth with have been able reduce the number of students served that can get comparable serves elsewhere.

Charlie has a long history with SEA. She was once being a homeless and received care from SEA in 2003. SEA taught Charlie how to apply for college and meanwhile she also helped them with some daily work until she received scholarship in Evergreen State College and left Seattle.

Charlie worked full time for two years after receiving undergraduate degree and then came back to Seattle in 2009. She joined SEA again as a volunteer and now helps to build the resource center.

After 8 years’ association with SEA, Charlie really appreciates the benefit from this experience. “SEA is creating a community, where you can understand how hard it is for some kids to go to school yet how hard they desire for it. The community is there for social justice and education,” she said.  As the only student board member in the organization, Charlie is passionate to make better connections with the students in need and let their voice to be heard.

Check out our blog post ‘Looking for Doers and Helpers‘ to learn more about volunteering at SEA.

Why the state’s education “need grant” is failing the neediest students

By Rebecca Wada

The Washington State Need Grant helps undergraduate students in the lowest income brackets pursue degrees that will benefit their future. It supplements federal financial aid programs, which fail to allow for costs of living. These days, not everyone who needs the SNG is getting help from it.

Residents of Washington state who demonstrate a financial need, with a family income less than 70 percent of the state’s median (an increase from previous years) qualify for the SNG. Recipients must also submit an approved Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and be registered for three credits in an eligible program during their first undergraduate degree pursuit. The amount rewarded to the student depends on their school’s tuition and fees.

The most recent release of the annual report on state financial aid programs, “Keeping College Affordable” boasts a $122 million increase in funding for the SNG from the 2001-2002 school year to that of 2009-2010.

Impressive as it is, the number doesn’t tell the whole story. Steep hikes in tuition at public colleges and universities account for more than 70 percent of this increase. Income eligibility has also increased from previous years, allowing a significantly greater number of students to qualify for the grant.

This means that while more families are eligible to receive the grant, there’s not enough money to fund demand. As a result, those qualified are less likely than ever to receive aid. In recent years, some 22,000 people who qualified to receive the grant did not receive one. That’s a staggering 11 times more people left out than just three years ago.

The SNG is a critical step on the path out of poverty. For many people from low-income families, postsecondary education is not simply what is expected or normal once they graduate from high school. Higher education is an opportunity to gain knowledge and get a foot in the door at prospective employers. There is also a sense of accomplishment and pride in overcoming the adversity brought about by low-income realities.

The effects of a SNG don’t stop with the student who receives it. Higher education has a socioeconomic ripple effect that can span generations. While making more money is heavily weighted in the reasoning to get an education and a better job, many also hope to give their families — especially their children — better living conditions and a wider array of opportunities.

Under the threat of not receiving the SNG, students are forced to consider their options. Most devastating of these is not being able to attend college at all due to an inability to pay daily living expenses. In talking to students on this topic, it’s clear that trying to pay for school on their own would involve heavy loan debts, multiple jobs, little to no time with family and cutting back on the most basic resources like food and heat. As it is, some grant recipients have to scrape by to be able to pay for somewhere to live, and the grant means the difference between having a roof over their heads and homelessness.

What can be done? Becoming aware of the issues that are being discussed in the government’s plans is one of the best ways to become an intelligent voter and citizen. Concerned citizens should also get involved. There are several organizations working to help advocate for people from the low-income bracket trying to go to school. Two such organizations are Statewide Poverty Action Network and Seattle Education Access. SEA works to advocate for this population on an individual and collective basis. Lobbying to change policies like those that cut financial aid programs is an important part of the way they aim to help entire demographics find a voice. To find out more about SEA’s efforts and the SNG visit seattleeducationaccess.org and Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board at hecb.wa.gov.

Link to this story on the Real Change website.