I'm Possible: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream
Read the short book review for what looks like another page-turner, an illuminating memoir. The Washington Post book reviewer, Clyde McGrady, remarks at the end of his review of I'm Possible: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream, "White's resilience becomes more apparent as the book unfolds. He meets setback after setback, and yet finds a way to overcome. But one question lingers: Should ordinary people need to have a special talent for others to see value in their lives?"
"The most enduring theme of "I'm Possible" is precariousness. White, 48, and currently an associate professor of tuba/euphonium at the University of New Mexico, is always just one mishap away from not realizing his dreams. Student loans, expensive instrument purchases and household bills all threaten to derail him… But the story is also an ode to support networks." Purchase "I'm Possible" via our website.
Richard Antoine White and our student scholars are among the 43 million Americans whose student loan debt totals $1.75 trillion!!! Our goal is relieve some of the debt burden for college scholarship recipients whose financial disadvantage puts them between a rock and a hard place in pursuit of upward mobility. Our team member, a Junior, is fortunate to have so far accumulated only $15,000 of debt; but she's pursuing a masters degree, and she commented, even at an amount lower than many others', "I'll be paying off my student loans for a long time."
Keeping Up With Anthony, Live Stream Recital Saturday, 2:30 ET
Tune in to his Junior recital at Oberlin's Kulas Recital Hall. Anthony writes, "...The program will be about 30 minutes and include Beethoven and African American Spirituals/Art Song.​
With gratitude for all the support from many people he received on his journey over the years, and continues to receive, he remarked, "It really does take a village!"
If you were busy, but intended to pitch in, you still can do so, and we'll honor the year-end 1:1 Match through Sunday, January 9.
Support Scholarship Recipients in a Significant Way
YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS
1:1 MATCH
​We all receive many appeals for donations. I really appreciate you all who "see the value in others' lives" and chose to support our student scholars. Through you we'll be able to assist Anthony, and others, with their school-related and living expenses via Supplemental Scholarship awards. I thank you on behalf of all the college-bound students we've assisted in 2021.
​Sincerely,
MaryAnn, Chief Engagement Officer and Founder
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Triple Match Offer Through December 26
All gifts will be tripled up to a total of $5000
TRIPLE MATCH
Donations assist full and partial-scholarship recipients with the myriad of essentials their wealthier peers' families can afford, such as laptops, transportation to and from college, clothes for job interviews, meals, dorm and school supplies, and scholarship tuition gaps that prevent registration if not paid.
Do You Have Leads to Foundations, Philanthropists, Businesses, Grant-makers?
Hopefully, we can find more support in the near future to assist this group of recipients with expenses throughout their college years, and do so as well for each year's group of select Supplemental Scholarship award recipients graduating from DC International Charter School.
Via Their Words We Better Grasp The Reality of Their Journey
Higher Education Leads to Higher Earnings, A Journey Fraught with Hurdles & Debt That Takes Immense Courage to Embark On
Damaris, DC International Charter School (DCI), class of 2021, first year scholarship student at Lewis & Clark University:
When I asked in August, "As a student who we go to bat for, are you comfortable with the words "financially disadvantaged" as in "ambitious financially disadvantaged student scholars"?
Damaris thoughtfully replied, "The word financially disadvantaged doesn't offend me because it is true and I know it is not my fault. I think the words surrounding the adjectives are important like "ambitious" and should be emphasized because in all you are helping students make a way when originally there would be no way. They have goals, dreams, and aspirations just like anyone else except their financial situation puts them a little farther away from the finish line than other students whose families are affluent....I went off on a little tangent, but in all I think the adjectives are ok with me and shouldn't offend anyone."
Damaris is putting her Supplemental Scholarship award to good use.
Anthony Anderson, graduate of Duke Ellington School, and Oberlin Conservatory, Class of 2022:
After receiving an iPad as a Supplemental Scholarship award Anthony wrote: "I wish to express my deepest gratitude to you and AllOutForChange.....with your support, I've had opportunities to travel and find the right school for me, play in my first two full length operas this past year, and even sing at Carnegie Hall this past winter. Know that you make a difference.... y'all provide a helping hand to those in need. Please, continue the good work!" September 24, 2020.​
When I asked if he received his latest Supplemental Scholarship award for grad school application fees and travel expenses, he replied,"Yes, I have! ...It really came right on time so I could send out my applications and pay the fees on time. Thank you again! I'm just waiting on results to hopefully schedule live auditions." December 7, 2021.
​For Shamaari, DCI 2021 grad, the $600 award to cover college-related expenses, is covering his commute, $18 RT, on the commuter train, DC to campus in Baltimore, MD. If he goes 3 times a week at a minimum to campus… over $200/month! And poof, there goes that award in one semester! And that math doesn't even include subway or bus expense to get to and from the train stations. Apparently, for some commuting students, the transportation expense that they face sometimes means they give up on college.
​"...some of the most surprising challenges are not academic but logistical. Something as simple as affordable, reliable transportation can mean the difference between a student finishing college or not." A surprising reason keeping students from finishing college: A lack of transportation, Hechinger Report, December 10, 2021
For AOFC Anthony interviewed 5 students and young professionals who tell it like it is. When discussing student debt with Rebecca in her interview: "I'm graduating with $40,000 in federal loans," remarks Rebecca a GWU engineering school full & merit scholarship recipient, Anthony replies, "That's not that bad!"
For a clearer picture read any one of the illuminating page-turners from our eye opening stories page. In Ron Suskind's, A Hope in the Unseen, An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League, you'll learn how the journey is far from mundane. I can't imagine how Cedric Jennings would have made it without a benefactor who read Suskind's Pulitzer Prize WSJ feature story. A caring fellow provided Jennings with $200 a month for food and expenses to add to his campus employment income, and paid for a tutor to bring Jenning's academic skills up to speed.
​When I read stories and meet young adults and teens with aspirations, talent and initiative like Anthony, and when I learn of the many strangers' desire to pitch in, I trust we can make a life-changing difference for others: 1 laptop, 1 iPad, 1 award at a time.
1:1 Match Today, Giving Tuesday
​For every donation received there'll be a 1:1 Match up to $5000
Help increase funds for 2022 to help more scholarship recipients with the additional support they need. Please consider, if you are able, contributing more this year to the Supplemental Scholarship & College Access Fund. Learn about lower-income students' financial struggles as they pursue upward mobility by listening to eye-opening interviews.
Donations at Work-
Student Achievements in Pursuit of Degrees & Professions
Anthony Keeps Soaring Higher - Watch the WUSA9 Interview
As Anthony applies to 6 grad schools in pursuit of a career in opera, he's incurring expenses: application fees, travel to schools for auditions and interviews, clothing for these visits, and grad school living expenses. Hopefully he receives scholarship offers as he did for undergrad. We plan to provide Supplemental Scholarship awards as needed.
​What a Difference $931 Made Thanks to 5 Donations Toward a
​Supplemental Scholarship Award, an iPad
Anthony writes, "The IPad has been a great vital component of my work the last year and a half. It has served to assist in shooting high quality video recordings that I can use for graduate audition prescribes as well as a place I can store much larger files. The IMovie feature is incredible in allowing me to cut and edit videos that I otherwise wouldn't be able to on my regular laptop because it simply is a bit dated and lacks the storage needed to be able to process these videos. It has also served as a place where I can store my eTextbooks for language classes and other academic courses like Philosophy."
Many Scholarship Recipients Benefited From Supplemental Scholarship Awards, Invaluable Computers and College Access Funds
for their college prep workshops that included: tutoring, college and scholarship research assistance and counseling.
Kevin & Daivon - in 11th grade, March 2020, without computers when school closed we gave them computers to continue the school year online and the college prep program through 12th grade. Kevin received a scholarship to Ohio University, studying management information systems; Daivon received a scholarship to Radford University, majoring in aeronautical engineering.
Maurice - received a scholarship to University of Maryland Eastern Shore, majoring in construction with a goal of becoming an architect.
Jewel - who received a laptop to complete her senior year at North Carolina A&T, graduated summa cum laude; she plans to teach in a DC public school.
Skylar, with her gift card for transportation & other college related expenses, her MacAir and Supplemental Scholarship award letter, is completing her first semester en route to her goal of becoming a veterinarian.
All Out for Change® helps public high school students overcome disadvantages our educational systems' inequities present. Donations help cultivate competitive college and scholarship candidates, and help full and partial-scholarship recipients with the myriad of essentials their wealthier peers' families can afford, such as laptops, transportation to and from college, clothes for job interviews, meals, dorm and school supplies, and scholarship tuition gaps that prevent registration if not paid. Learn more about their achievements in the face of financial conundrums on our Inspiring Stories & Impact page. ​
The lives of students we support are vastly different from their wealthier peers. All Out for Change®, through donations, helps financially disadvantaged, ambitious, students with great potential like Kevin, Anthony, Guadalupe, Juana, and numerous others. Our support, together with others', eases their journey toward degrees, professions, and upward mobility for themselves and their families.
Give to Cultivate Upward Mobility & More Stories of Achievement
Spread the Word via Instagram & Facebook
Please help cultivate awareness of our students' conundrums and the importance of College Access Funds.
Thank You to All Who Made Our 2021 Impact Possible!
So long, jitneys — and farewell to our connective tissue
Brian Broome, Tuesday Opinion, The Washington Post, November 8, 2021
"I have been thinking a lot lately about how all this safety and convenience divides us… we are saying goodbye to the connective tissue that people in communities use to create and have with one another…" Brian Broome, author, "Punch Me Up To the Gods."
The next day while in the office at 5:30 pm, I saw the light on in my office neighbor's window across the way. I opened mine and yelled out to him. He opened his with a big smile. Enjoying the connection and conversation, he held up the Starbucks coffee cup, his daily delivery. I prodded him on the front stoop the day before, his Starbucks delivery in hand…"walk out the door and support one of our small businesses; the bagel shop makes the best cappuccino and americano. Just make sure you have Judy do it."
So, from his window he tells me that it's because of the convenience and time savings. He doesn't take the time to go the 1/2 block daily, and so misses out on the connection, the neighborly familiarity with local businesses that's easily cultivated just out our door.
Read the Tuesday opinion by Brian Broome. You may find yourself pondering and reflecting on choices too.
Giving Tuesday, right after Thanksgiving, is upon us
Feel free to give in advance
and we'll honor our Giving Tuesday 1:1 Match
and you'll avoid our Giving Tuesday appeals among all the others.
Donations replenish the College Access Funds supporting invaluable college prep workshops, and Supplemental Scholarship awards for 2022 high school grads.
Brighten Your Day With a Quick Peek atIstanbul's Traveling Dog's Journeys
How Boji manages is quite remarkable…. same with the students we support on their journey toward success in high school, and achieving college scholarships, degrees, and professional dreams. ​
and you'll avoid our Giving Tuesday appeals cluttering your inbox.
100% of donations go toward the College Access Funds supporting invaluable college prep workshops, and Supplemental Scholarship awards for 2022 high school grads.
DONATE AND CULTIVATE CHANGE
Higher Education = Higher Earnings
The Why Behind What We Do,
and How 2021 Charter School Grads Benefited From Donations
`"The median weekly pay in 2020 for workers with a bachelor's degree was $1,305, compared with $938 for those with an associate's degree and $781 for high school graduates", according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's precisely why we do what we do…we do what we can to get financially disadvantaged students the additional support they need to make achieving that well-deserved degree a little easier.​
Every school year we assist a different group of 11th & 12 grade students by:
~ channeling College Access funds raised toward College prep, counseling, application and scholarship research assistance, and tutoring. These invaluable programs cultivate dreams and hope. They change the trajectory of students' lives, by allowing them to jump start a journey toward higher education, professional ambitions, and upward mobility.
~ channeling Supplemental Scholarship awards to each year's 12th grade college scholarship recipients to help with essential expenses (of which there are many) and help reduce their debt burden.
How Donations Impacted 16 Students
Thanks to those who donated during our fundraiser, we can all enjoy the big smile on Skylar's face, with her gift card for transportation expenses, her MacAir and Supplemental Scholarship award letter. She'll double-major in equine studies and biology en route to her goal of becoming a veterinarian: "Thank you!! Sincerely, Skylar Smith, 12th Grade, 2021."
In addition to Skylar,
Luz, going to Northeastern University in Boston, wrote,"I just wanted to say thanks again for the laptop! It will be a great help to me in college and I appreciate the well wishes."
Damaris, who flew to Oregon to study Psychology at Lewis & Clark en route to teaching, wrote to the school's college counselor, "Please thank All Out For Change for me again :)" With her Amex gift card she purchased her flight to Oregon and text books, including a $99 Psychology text book.
2 of the 4 students who received the awards for transportation to Oregon, southeastern Virginia, Florida, Chicago, also received refurbished mac laptops. And 12 others received macs as well; 3 were donated, and with funds raised we purchased the other 11.
How Fortunate They Are
Though their families have very limited income (about 50% of the school's students receive free and reduced-price lunches), the students are rich with potential, and have the good fortune, via a lottery, to attend a top-notch public charter school where they could cultivate their potential and become competitive college and scholarship candidates with help of a full-time college counselor who we collaborate with. Typically, public schools in less affluent zip codes nationwide aren't able to provide for students in this way, and not everyone wins the lottery in DC to their school of choice.
My heart goes out to those whose potential to soar is stalled due to their misfortune of being in underfunded, understaffed schools, part of our educational system's inequity. Our 16 inspiring, hard-working student scholars are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to overcome, at least, that disadvantage. Helping them move along on their journey toward a degree, a fulfilling profession and upward mobility with a little more ease is important to me and to our mission.​
Listen to eye-opening interviews with student scholars and successful young professionals. Learn about their financial struggles, achievements, hurdles, and good fortune as they pursue upward mobility.
Thanks again on behalf of Skylar, Luz, Damaris, Erik, Shamaari, Cyndy, David, Victoria, Franchelis, Guadalupe, Juana, Noelvin, Katherine, Henry, Johan, and Lizbeth.​
Conversations With Extraordinary People
Remarkable Journeys Toward Independence
Listen to a Kaleidoscopic Array of Interviewees Who Tell It Like It Is In Conversations With Anthony, a Thoughtful Interviewer, an All Out for Change® Supplemental Scholarship Recipient, an Aspiring Opera Singer Who's Studying at Oberlin Conservatory with Scholarships.
Their stories are full of good fortune, stumbling blocks & determination to overcome them, financial wizardry from 17-25 year-olds, and pivotal persons and moments when doors open at critical times along the journey.
Listen & Learn from These Conversations
​Outstanding achievement surfaces when the financial resources and people appear that cultivate the potential that lies dormant in economically disadvantaged students and their schools. I admire them; I've had lengthier conversations with each and heard some powerful, moving stories.
"I'm graduating with $40,000 in federal loans," remarks Rebecca a college scholarship recipient,
Anthony replies, "That's not that bad!"
Imagine being a 12th-grader with a scholarship offer, projecting very little money for day to day expenses, about to embark on a perilous journey that leads down a deep hole of debt, to then climb the rickety ladder out toward upward mobility without a safety net. Listen to Rebecca talk with Anthony, another scholarship student in similar shoes, and learn about the remarkable financial gyrations Rebecca spins through, her conundrums and worries, much different concerns than her peers from wealthier families. Now with a degree from George Washington University in hand, Rebecca's stepping upon the rickety ladder upward with a new job on the horizon, hoping for a stable, bright future, and one day free of her college debt burden. ​
Revealed in Interviews:
When Ambition Meets Good Fortune - Dreams Emerge & Their Achievement
"Nearly forty years later, I can reflect on what a blessing it has been to encounter so many people who chose to help someone in need — not because they had to but because they simply could…. In whatever form, such acts create their own legacy of hope and inspiration. They pass something on," remarks Deval Patrick, former Massachusetts Governor and author of A Reason to Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life.​
If you've contributed during our fundraiser, we thank you for your understanding and generosity. If not, and you'd like to pitch in, you can make an Independence Day 1:1 Match donation for the ambitious hard-working student scholars we support in pursuit of independence for themselves, and their families. Through you and your support we can make a big difference in someone else's life. And for that, I am very grateful!
Independence Day 1:1 Match Donation
Cultivate Extraordinary Change
Please share our July 3rd Independence Day Fundraiser Post
We celebrate the success of these students and college graduates on Independence Day.
DONATIONS DOUBLE THROUGH JUNE
1:1 Match Donation
​$7,000 Scholarship Fund Goal = $14,000
"The Proof is in the Pudding"
What Donations Have Been Doing
I wish I could convey the powerful, moving experience I had at a student scholars' award ceremony . . . their accomplishments, much more noteworthy than your everyday award ceremony. What potential and outstanding achievement surfaces when the financial resources and people appear to cultivate that potential that lies dormant in under-resourced schools.
To witness their accomplishments and awards, and meet them is a great honor: the 12th grade grads, honor-roll students, and college scholarship recipients; and college grads, summa cum laude, and cum laude. I admire their courage and achievements under the most difficult of circumstances throughout their youth.
How Your College Access Funds Paid Off
Kevin- in 11th grade, March 2020, without a computer when school closed. With the iMac we delivered at his fingertips he could continue the school year online and his college prep program; carry on through 12th grade to receive a full-ride scholarship to Ohio University.
Daivon & Dimya- will attend Radford University in southwest Virginia where Daivon will major in aeronautical engineering, and Dimya in mechanical engineering.
Maurice- he'll major in architecture, and likely will study at Florida A&M University; he's awaiting info on financial aid offerings from several schools.
James- made honor-roll throughout high school and received early acceptance and scholarship to his 1st choice, George Mason University for film & video studies.
Christian, Christopher, David and more… many, at-risk, growing up in poor, dangerous neighborhoods ended up, by fate, serendipity, and good fortune, to connect in high school with an amazing group of tutors and counselors who are educators in math, physics, reading & writing, and college prep guidance.
London- a pre-med student at Emory University was faced with a tuition gap that we helped cover. To avoid debt every semester, he applies for small scholarships to fill the gap.
Yes, it does "take a village", going All Out for Change® for our youth seeking achievement, degrees, professions, and upward mobility.
With High School Achievement & Scholarships, There's Much Immediate Need Supplemental Scholarship Funds - 1:1 Match up to $7,000 Through June
Whether donating funds, computers, used & unused gift cards, they all fulfill the college-bound students' needs for essentials like housing, meals, transportation to and from school, dorm & school supplies, books, laptops, mobile phone plans, and more.
Upward mobility is costly and these students and others we support will end up with debt burdens. For example, a student received a half-tuition scholarship to Yale, that's $25k of $50k tuition; she needs to find additional scholarship funds and loans to cover the additional $22k for housing, meals, books, and fees; and still, school & dorm supplies, transportation to and from school, possibly a laptop, and basic living expenses. Supplemental Scholarship fund donations and gift cards can help.
A gift of $25=$50; $200=$400; $500=$1000.
Donations make their uphill climb less burdensome. Every little bit helps!
​"The Proof is in the Pudding"
First Generation College Grads & Their Awards
Others who came before this year's college-bound class, made great strides:
Jewel- who received a laptop to complete her studies online, graduated summa cum laude from North Carolina A&T, received an Outstanding Performance award; she plans to teach in a DC public school.
Michael- graduated cum laude from Norfolk State, with a degree in early-childhood education, received an Outstanding Perseverance award. He's not only the first to acquire a college degree but also the first to graduate high school in his family. And he intends to learn about business operations and open an early-childcare center down the road.
Rebecca, a full scholarship recipient at George Washington University's engineering school, graduated with a job lined up at a major IT company in Seattle. She's graduating with "only $40,000" in debt; listen to an eye-opening interview.
I'm excited for these ambitious student scholars, their futures in college, and their post-college futures. Braswell, Fabricio, Rebecca, all with careers in place, are reasons to believe in those following in their footsteps. Through contributions we can facilitate their challenging journeys with College Access Funds for invaluable college prep support, and Supplemental Scholarship Funds for college-bound high school grads.
Summer Reading Like No Other​
Visit our Eye-Opening Stories page to find summer reading, remarkable success stories that will blow you away, and affirm the necessity of going to bat for students whose families and schools have limited financial resources.
Another Way to Help Student Scholars is by Starting Your Own Facebook Fundraiser for All Out for Change®
For simple instructions to start your FaceBook Fundraiser visit our FaceBook Fundraiser page.
DONATE & CULTIVATE EXTRAORDINARY CHANGE
​A gift of $25=$50; $200=$400; $500=$1000
​Through you and your support we can make a big difference in someone else's life. And for that, I am very grateful!
Many Many Thanks,
Listen to An Eye-Opening Interview with a College Scholarship Recipient, Rebecca, Who Tells It Like It Is & It Ain't Easy!
"I'm graduating with $40,000 in federal loans," remarks Rebecca. Anthony replies, "That's not that bad!"
Imagine being a 12th-grader with a scholarship offer, projecting very little money for day to day expenses, about to embark on a perilous journey that leads down a deep hole of debt, to then climb the rickety ladder out toward upward mobility without a safety net. Listen to her talk with Anthony, another scholarship student in similar shoes, and learn about the remarkable financial gyrations Rebecca spins through, her conundrums and worries, much different concerns than her peers from wealthier families. Now a George Washington University senior, she steps upon the rickety ladder with a new job on the horizon, hoping for a stable, bright future, and one day free of her college debt burden.
Hard to imagine… with a high school degree, a college scholarship and financial aid in hand you pass "GO" with all kinds of challenges and financial stress through college and beyond. It's either that direction as a first generation college student or life with a low-wage job.
Today's climb for ambitious students from poor and working class families, in under-resourced schools, is fraught with hurdles. That journey upward now typically requires major debt and more than a high school degree. It becomes possible and less perilous when others, like All Out for Change® and contributors, go All Out to help students through high school and college Change their and their families' lives for good.
"Student debt can be the difference between a financial future of hope or one of despair," writes tax law professor Dorothy A. Brown, in The Washington Post.
Our spring fundraiser for 2021 high school grads starts early May.
We're estimating we'll need $7,500 for laptops for 15 grads to get them through their college years; that's on top of the other Supplemental Scholarship Fund needs. Feel free to pitch in now, with your used laptop, used or unused gift cards, or via a donation; fifty - 12th grade recipients of free and reduced price lunches will greatly appreciate the assistance with college expenses.
I'd Like to Pitch in Now
Help Build Awareness - If you haven't already "liked" us on Facebook and you do like us, please take a second to "like" our FB Page
Thanks for listening to Rebecca's story, and for your support.