My Nonprofit Reviews

After relocating to Savannah, our daughter, Zoe, began rebelling and acting out in school. As part of her rebellion, Zoe worked very hard to maintain her 14% average in school. Every interaction with Zoe was a fight. It was non-stop stress, to say the least. When Zoe pushed us to the point where we didn't know what to do, we sat down with DaVena and discussed Zoe's problems. DaVena gave us some pointers and suggested that we enroll Zoe in one of their programs.

For the next 3 months, I drove Zoe to her AWOL classes 3 days a week. She sobbed and yelled the whole way there about how she didn't want to go. Every trip was the same. "I don't want to go! I don't like these people! I don't fit in here!" When I picked her up from class, she was all smiles and talking about all the things she got to do. During those 3 months, we watched her grades improve and her attitude got a bit better.

One day, something in Zoe's head clicked and her attitude went through the roof. She started talking about her "responsibilities" and her aspirations. As the class progressed, Zoe was pulled more into the spotlight as her class began to perform on stage to support the album that they put together. She learned that she has one heck of a stage presence and that she's very good at performing.

Zoe completed that program successfully and begged us to let her participate in a program that AWOL ran over the summer. Given the change that we saw in Zoe, due to her participation in the last class, there wasn't even a choice to be made. That class completed and Zoe begged us to let her try out for AWOL's "Act Up" program. She tried out, she made the cut, and she's having a great time.

Today, Zoe doesn't cry before her AWOL classes but she does yell from time to time. Class starts at 6:00 and Zoe yells at us around 5:30 to get moving because she wants to be early. Her class is only a mile and a half down the road but she really wants to make sure that she gets there early! We don't see problems in school anymore either. In fact, Zoe has mostly A's and she's in two advanced level classes for the next grade level. She's also determined to get into a prestigious arts academy next year.

The changes in Zoe's attitude and outlook on life are directly related to her participation in AWOL. Her life has been changed by this program and so has ours.

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