School On Wheels--Volunteer & make a difference in someones life in as little as an hour a week

This is my friend Jessica Cervantes, I've been tutoring her since April and every time I see her I can't help but smile.

She is nine-years-old and her family went homeless about a year ago. Her and her sister Jasmine live in a foster home in the valley, they do not know where their 6 other siblings are.
I visit weekly to tutor her in school subjects, but more importantly it's just to have someone consistent in her life, seeing as she's the smartest 5th grader I know. At  times last semester I'm embarrassed to say that her math skills surpassed mine on certain things, they were already doing algebra in 4th grade! I totally blanked but I think she's forgiven me since.

Anyways, the program is called School on Wheels and we could really use more volunteers. With unemployment the way it is, more and more people are losing their homes, it's not the lazy drug-addict or fresh out-of-the loony bin living in a box on the side of the road ( which so many people like to tell themselves so as to not feel bad about giving them $, which I'm not saying they should or should not, I've just heard that reasoning often throughout my life) the people living under the freeways and on skidrow are becoming more and more like you and I and Jessica's mom and dad.

So if you want to help the world in someway maybe this is for you? My reasoning was the only real way to make an effective change for the better is through the kids because they're still developing. Many of them are continually getting pulled out of school because their family's just can't keep it together. We are living in a new world, without an education these kids will turn out like their parents and the cycle will continue.

If you have any free time, even if it's only an hour a week, check out the program-- there are 56,000 homeless kids between Santa Barbara and the rest of Southern California (that they know of).


For more information:
http://www.schoolonwheels.org/
or if you have any questions you can e-mail me on here
or contact Yanira Rivas

yrivas@schoolonwheels.org

Regional Coordinator

School on Wheels, Inc