Our Stories

Mayia began coming to the Learning Lab during the 2007/ 2008 school year when she was in 3rd grade; however, her reading skills were around 1st grade level. This made it difficult for her to keep up in other academic subject areas because reading is so essential for learning new information.

After attending the Learning Lab over the school year, as well as during summer school, Maiya’s attitude toward reading and her motivation has greatly improved.

Maiya has exhibited great ACADEMIC skills as she increased her reading fluency score from 45 to 74 words per minute, an increase of 85% in one year, and improved two grade levels in reading during one academic year!! Now in the 4th grade, her reading skills are at a high third grade level—she has made tremendous progress and is almost caught up. We can’t wait to see how far she'll come this year!

The best way to describe Ramon would be to call him “Mr. Popularity.” He’s the kind of person that other kids just want to be around. The great thing about Ramon is that he always uses his influence to lead others in a positive direction. Powerhouse has provided him a place to grow and develop his natural abilities as a leader.

Outside of Powerhouse, Ramon has had to mature faster than most other kids. His mother struggles with her health and his father works a lot, so Ramon has to take on a lot of responsibility at home. For example, he makes sure that his mom takes her medicine on time, sometimes makes dinner for the family, and translates for his father whose first language is Spanish. He says that the support the he receives at Powerhouse makes it possible for him to do all of these things. Ramon often opens up about his family at support group and staff 1-on-1 outings where he receives the encouragement he needs to keep going.

Anyone who spends any time with Ramon knows that he has the potential to do great things in the future.

Ryan completed all that was required of him for our 14-week parenting class. Once addicted to drugs, in prison or homeless, and completely out of his daughter’s life, Ryan is now employed and has sole-custody of his nine-year-old daughter.

Ryan has been an example of how the program works and he still recorded about 18 extra classes.

In his own words: "I've suffered from serious drug addiction and dysfunctional behavior; I was in and out of prison, many Treatment Centers and even homeless. My story is about overcoming tough times. I have learned a lot, and now understand that to be a positive healthy example to my daughter; I must live in recovery and continue surrounding myself with positive people and going to support groups. I am now a responsible loving parent that is employed and providing a healthy environment for my daughter."

The parenting classes in Family Time have made a big difference. The parenting classes have helped me realize that it's not enough to simply be a good parent. The tools that I have been give have taught me what it means to strive to be a great parent.  I thank the staff for working with me to get to this point.