Our courageous Sam in the video is a neighbor I’m very fortunate to know. His social equity awareness at the age of 12, as displayed in his memoir, set the foundation for the rest of his life. These days he takes action by supporting All Out for Change® and other charities.​

 “I’m donating my next stimulus check to charities and organizations that aid children and promote social equity. I’ve already earmarked $900 for righteous causes, including $100 to All Out for Change,” wrote Sam in a recent note.

“PolicyLink defines equity as “just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. Unlocking the promise of the nation by unleashing the promise in us all.” The American Planning Association

“It Takes a Village” to Open Doors to Opportunity and Upward Mobility from an inequitable educational system that does a serious disservice to our youth from working poor families (security guards, food prep and waitstaff, childcare and healthcare workers). Neither extra-curricular enrichment programs, nor essentials can be covered with the famiilies' low-wage, yet invaluable jobs they perform. Nor do they have the privilege of living in an affluent zip code where higher property taxes fund exceptional public schools. So, unlike their wealthier peers, ambitious first generation college freshman face many systemic challenges in high school and college.

To better grasp today’s systemic hurdles toward upward mobility read this personal eye-opening account, “I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part.”  Anthony Abraham Jack, New York Times. His book, The Privileged Poor,captures the inequity and the struggles students face to change their lives for good, and presents ways the system can better support them.

Find numerous riveting personal accounts on our Eye-Opening Stories page, including, A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper; or choose from among numerous revealing, compelling books.

All Out for Change®, through understanding & thoughtful supporters, serves as one of numerous essential players facilitating ambitious students’ rise above the systemic hurdles.
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Braswell: Junior year, at a public high school in SE Washington, through friends in a non-profit Mathletes program Braswell learned of a college-readiness program that attracted him. This took his life on the road less traveled, unfamiliar to students in southeast DC. Says Braswell, “in a cargo van packed with students visiting colleges in North Carolina and Florida, I learned there’s more than Alabama Avenue.” He hadn’t traveled before or been outside the neighborhood.“Mr. Penniman helped me to open my eyes.” After completing his graduate degree in Education at the University of Arizona, Braswell now works as the school’s first Black Student Recruitment Coordinator.​

Fabricio: What he has accomplished at only 24, arriving in this country as a kid from El Salvador who lived in poverty, and attended a DC charter school, is admirable and remarkable. When I asked him, would you be where you are today if your 10th grade teacher hadn’t noticed your “love for math” and directed you to Mr. P. (Mathletes) and Ms. Barbara (a tutor)? “Absolutely not!” He overcame one hurdle upon another. If these individuals hadn’t appeared he wouldn’t be a successful IT professional who purchased a home in the DC suburbs “for his parents”, where he and his sister also live. “I told my Mom I was going to be the last in the family to live in poverty.”

Anthony: He had the good fortune of ending up in a DC public school that ranks in the top 7% of US schools, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Someone from his middle school urged Anthony to audition. Though he never sang or acted, Anthony says, " A reading teacher who saw how much I acted out thought to direct me toward acting, and auditioning for the Duke Ellington School to redirect that energy toward a positive outcome". And Anthony, “winged it” at his audition; accepted to the school, “at 14 I knew I was destined to go that path”. Later, as a high school Junior he and opera clicked. A teacher took interest in him, and Anthony connected with his church pianist, who became a mentor. Little did he know then, he’d be headed into opera, and receive a full scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Learn of roadblocks he faced; watch a short Today Show segment.
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Keanu: As a basketball player on the Navajo Reservation’s Chinle High School Basketball team the basketball coach served as a pivotal person in his and his teammates’ lives. For Keanu, his English teacher did as well. Writes Michael Powell in Canyon Dreams, “Keanu typed his college essays on his cell phone and transcribed them when he got to school… As Keanu’s trailer lacked anything like an internet connection, he lugged his laptop to the Burger King in Chinle where he worked as a cashier…logged on and closed his eyes and asked God and the Holy People for help… He was knocking at a door to an unknown world…. He got into Swarthmore. And Dartmouth. And Brown, Columbia, Case Western, and Harvard… Five months later he would board a plane and land in Boston and matriculate at Harvard.”

Arshay Cooper: Says Arshay Cooper in his book, A Most Beautiful Thing; The True Story of America’s All-Black Rowing Team, “Ken and Victory Outreach have taught me to have vision and to see where I want to be and what to do to get there.” And in the Epilogue, he writes, “I can never thank Ken enough for throwing me into the water because the sport of crew changed my life." Purchase this book to read his gripping story that begins in the 90's on the rough streets of Chicago's west side.

Ryan Speedo Green (an accomplished opera star whose remarkable story is told in Sing for Your Life), Wes Moore (author of the NYT bestseller, The Other Wes Moore; One Name, Two Fates), Arshay Cooper (author of A Most Beautiful Thing; The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team; now a documentary) have published books (available on our Eye-Opening Stories page) about their riveting and remarkable journeys, filled with ups and downs. While these are heartwarming stories, there’s heartbreak on the other side knowing that way too many students caught in our inequitable education system will never be blessed with the serendipitous good fortune of pivotal people who set the stage for achievement and upward mobility. 

Facilitate Belief And Achievement - Mentor A Student, Or Help With Literacy. You can be a pivotal person for youth attending our many underperforming, under-resourced schools, who live in working-hard-to-get-by families that can’t afford to live in the zip codes with high-performing schools. Often both the student and the parent work minimum wage jobs. And that’s where we and you and others come in to break that cycle and watch a student soar: high school degree, scholarships, college degrees, and fulfilling professions!​

Many 9th graders read well below their grade-level. Volunteer a couple hours a week to elevate essential skills for success. Choose your city and do as I did for results: searching literacy programs in Washington, DC.  And this link has volunteer opportunities throughout the US.

YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS
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Anthony’s Fall Semester Solo Opera Produced With the New i-Pad ​

Regarding the day-to-day help, food is among the essentials for students from first generation working-class and low-income families! I will personally gift $25 to the George Washington University student-run food pantry, The Store, providing: food, basic hygiene products, and school supplies, and more. I’ll be donating a couple of my coats and kitchen supplies as well. ​

According to The Store’s faculty advisor I’ve met, students they serve include undergrads, graduate, law and medical school students. They noted an increased “very high demand” among this semester’s 500 residential students. The demand will likely double or triple during spring semester with the arrival of 1000 more residential students.

Donations will fund College Access programming and provide Supplemental Scholarship Awards to 12th graders to cover the cost of essentials such as: tuition gaps, books, SAT prep courses, college counselors, transportation to school or to visit colleges, college application fees, AP exam fees, laptops, dorm supplies, school supplies. ​

Enjoy and hang onto the smile from this fun thought provoking very short story.  For us, it’s fun, and also illustrates allegorically what a difference it makes in one and an other’s life when one seizes the opportunity to give a hand ... the mutual gift it cultivates. For example, through All Out for Change®, our supporters, Beth, Mitch and I, all experience the gift of knowing what a difference donations and refurbished computers will make in ambitious students’ lives … hope, high school diplomas, higher education scholarships and degrees, fulfilling careers and upward mobility.

Would you like to start a supplemental scholarship award in your or someone else's name to support an ambitious student scholar in need?

In late summer 2017 I learned of a gifted student, full of talent and potential, who faced financial conundrums that threatened his aspirations to be an opera singer. I knew immediately upon meeting Anthony that we had stumbled upon our first grant recipient. WHY? See and hear for yourself- listen to his solo, “Deep River. And while you’re at it, spend a few more minutes listening to the eye-opening Today Show segment to learn more about Anthony and the challenges he and his peers with dreams and potential face in the pursuit of upward mobility and professional goals. ​

This fall I reached out to Anthony to see what he’s been up to and if he needed help with anything. An iPad was on his wish list but not within his tight budget. Our mac wizard remarked, “an iPad for Anthony is like giving a musician an instrument!" Thanks to a few donors we provided him with another grant in October for an iPad. We’re looking forward to Anthony's updates, additional solos, and the zoom opera he’s working on this semester that will explore homelessness through the pandemic. Stay Tuned!​

And while you're on the inspiring Stories page, give a shoutout for our student scholar, Anthony, via the Like/Share and Follow icons.

We, our students and their college counselors, program directors and tutors are grateful for all who have pitched in to support aspiring student scholars. Your help is essential! Unfortunately our dysfunctional educational system necessitates we step up to the plate for our students from working poor families to facilitate the pursuit of their dreams and upward mobility.  There are too many youth in our country with potential that may never come to fruition.

Our educational system not only does a grave disservice to many students, but it also fails to provide access to much needed technology. Thanks to Mac-alchemist Mitch, of MacsOnDemand, we can tackle the digital divide. Thus far, we've provided 46 refurbished mac laptops and desktops to students in need. This essential and invaluable tool allows 46 college-bound and college students to work virtually with tutors and college counselors, and stay on track for their degrees while classes have switched online. All Out for Change® is committed to standing behind all of them, and trust they will have great success on their journey. 
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Would you like to start a supplemental scholarship award in your or someone else's name to support an ambitious student scholar in need? Please call or email to explore possibilities.

Imagine you’re an ambitious 12th grader with hopes and goals for a college degree and profession, to achieve independence and not raise a family in need of free meals. You got your scholarship for tuition and housing but how do you pay for all the additional essentials like books, laptop, transportation to college, school & dorm supplies, activities fees, meals. At a DC university the meal plan costs $3000/semester. You work part-time while in high school and plan to while in college, but a large portion of your paycheck has to go to your family’s electric bill. Another DC university has a Food Pantry for students experiencing food scarcity. Wealthier families don’t have problems covering the cost of meals and all the other supplemental necessities for their sons and daughters.
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Read an eye-opening story, a first hand experience and get the picture: “I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part.” by Anthony Abraham Jack, author of The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students.

Give to Cultivate Independence & Stories of Achievement
Education in the US, unlike other developed countries, is fraught with systemic injustice, built-in roadblocks for youth from families with limited financial resources. All Out for Change®, via organizations and students we support with College Access Funds and Supplemental Scholarship Funds, helps break through the roadblocks along the journey to achievement and upward mobility.

Why isn’t anyone talking about outdoor classrooms? With sports cancelled and fields and playgrounds available among other unused outside spaces, large, medium and small canopy tents can be set up, and chairs and tables arranged with space needed between students. Pods of students could be created. Wouldn’t this idea present a safer option, with some brainstorming, resourcefulness, and thinking outside the (classroom) box? 

People use open canopy tents for outdoor events for sun and rain protection. Restaurants in DC now use them to replace parking lanes for additional outdoor seating with extra space between tables; people feel safer outdoors instead of indoors. While talking with a colleague about my idea she suggested canopies with a couple of roll up sides in case students need more weather protection. 

Christine Esposito, a teacher, recently wrote in The Washington Post, “Many risks stand in the way of me being with my students”. I’m curious as to how receptive teachers and parents would be to this idea if “These 8 Basic Steps” from The Atlantic July 9 Ideas contributors were combined with outdoor classrooms. 

Run an outdoor classrooms idea by infectious disease experts to get their thoughts. The more heads that come together to think outside the (classroom) box, the more likely it could be tested and tweaked. 

When I shared the idea with a friend, she suggested unused cafeteria tables and chairs for desks. Then I thought, put cardboard figures in between students to create space protection and set up modular plexiglass shields; and maybe everyone wears face shields in addition to masks; and put out sanitizer jugs everywhere, and give pocket-sized sanitizers to students, teachers and staff.

We need to explore ways to meet ALL needs and minimize risk. The 11th and 12th graders we support through All Out for Change®, who are the first in their families with aspirations for college, experience disadvantages without real teacher time and school resources to cultivate their achievement. Their wealthier peers, whose well-educated parents can help with online schooling at home, have quite an advantage.

It might be wise to look into this, perhaps less risky idea further as an option, so our less wealthy youth can be better served in the coming year. We need to prevent their fall further down the ladder they’re climbing in pursuit of higher education, careers and upward mobility. We must put our heads together to facilitate continued achievement and keep ALL students on track.

I didn’t expect my curiosity about the idea of outdoor classrooms to take me down the systemic inequities path. But not surprising that’s where my thoughts headed since the organization I founded addresses the systemic inequities many low-income high school students face, including the “digital divide” that hurts them now more than ever. Last year we provided a local youth development program with 9 laptops for a computer workshop and workspace. We were told it was a “game changer” for 11th and 12th graders; unfortunately, students without computers can’t access the space now nor can they attend group college counseling and professional development workshops in the space. 

Since campus shutdowns, the computers we provided to individual 11th and 12th graders have been invaluable tools, allowing them to go online for classes at home. Yes, the computers the students received are a silver lining around a massive dark cloud. But as the new school year approaches, a July 22 Washington Post article shed light on another systemic injustice arising out of the pandemic: “Private teachers and the cost of inequality; Many parents are set to pay for home lessons to avoid health risk, remote learning woes, widening education gap”. 

The students who received computers from us could finish the school year online, but they will face a more serious disadvantage besides no family members to help with homeschooling in the coming year. Now their wealthier peers’ parents are paying for private teachers to create in-home schools.  Campus shutdowns clearly exacerbate the conundrums and hurdles our system presents to under-resourced students in their pursuit of high school achievement and higher education.

And speaking of conundrums, I totally appreciate Ms. Esposito’s concerns as a teacher, and wonder how everyone could be better served in the new school year. If infectious disease specialists suggested that some version of the outdoor classroom idea could possibly work, by implementing specific protocol, would she, as a teacher and parent, consider being with her students?

MaryAnn Puglisi
Chief Engagement Officer & Founder 
All Out for Change®
Washington, DC

Donate your Macs today - cultivate hope & success! All Out for Change® is fortunate to have a Mac specialist committed to helping our 11th & 12th graders, and college students stay on track by transforming your used equipment into essential tools for students in need. We have 4 more students with immediate needs.  If you live in the DC metro area, and would like to make arrangements for us to take computers off your hands and put them into students’ hands, please email me, maryann@alloutforchange.org.
Since March, we have equipped 21 students pursuing high school and college degrees with computers, allowing them to stay on track and connected during campus shutdowns and remote learning. With the invaluable help of Mitch at Computers on Demand, we have provided:

• 7 refurbished iMacs to 11th and 12th graders without computers at home in need of them for school and their college prep program; their tutor, and a student's family.
• 14 refurbished MacBooks to high school grads, college students who returned home without good working laptops, and 12th graders anticipating they’ll need them through the school year and then in college;
• we’re about to gift 4 more MacBooks to 2020 high school grads starting college online soon, and then hopefully safely on campus in the near future.

Campus shutdowns shed light on the “digital divide” and serious consequences for a student’s present ability to stay on course toward high school and college degrees, and future opportunities. Share in the gratification of a donated computer that’s essential to an ambitious youth’s educational & professional pursuits, and upward mobility.

Supplemental Scholarship funds will help high school grads with expenses like small tuition gaps (enrollment not allowed otherwise), transportation to and from school, laptops, books & school supplies ($1,200), dorm room bedding and towels, essentials that students' families can't afford. 
College Access Funds typically help with for costs of college fairs, campus visits, college prep workshops, application fees; currently, many college students without housing and meals on campus have additional emergency needs for food and housing assistance, internet access during the pandemic and campus shut downs. 
Help make success happen through invaluable college prep programs we support: 

• American University awarded Desmond a full scholarship to study Computer Science to pursue a career in IT; Clyde, a Cameroonian refuge, received a 89% scholarship to study pre-med and biology at Albright College in PA; also with Scholarship funds, Janiya will attend Old Dominion University, and Denise, Bowie State University; Cierra, a Psychology major, graduated from Salisbury University, MD and will attend graduate school.  
• Braswell, has an undergraduate and graduate degree in Education and works for the Tucson School District; Fabricio participated in a professional and technical skills program and we hear he has "done marvelously as an IT guy", purchased a house for his family and, mentors a 12th grader.

With your support they can continue their coursework and pursue their professional aspirations en route to upward mobility.