Imagine being born with a gift. Speed on the field. A voice that fills a room. A mind that takes apart anything you hand it.
Now imagine being born with that gift in a neighborhood the rest of the country has already written off.
Imagine.
Imagine being one of the nearly 10 million children in America growing up in poverty, about 1 in 7.11 Imagine living in one of the four in ten households that work hard and still can't afford the basics where they live.10 Imagine knowing that every extra dollar your family spends on you is a dollar that doesn't go to rent.
Imagine wanting to play.
You have the talent. Your coach says so. But a single season of a single sport now costs the average family more than $1,000.3 So you watch from the fence. You're not alone: kids from homes below the poverty line are the only group in the country playing sports less than they used to. Only about a third of them play at all.1
Imagine wanting to create.
You hear music in everything. You choreograph in your bedroom. You film on a cracked phone. But lessons, instruments, cameras and studio time cost money. Families with more money spend nine times as much on their kids' activities after school as families with less.4 Most low-income families say there isn't an afterschool program they can get their kids into at all.5
Imagine wanting to learn.
Your homework is online, but there's no computer at home. One in four teens from low-income families is in the same spot, typing essays on a phone.7 College feels like a place for other people's kids. Students from the poorest families are in college at a third the rate of the wealthiest.9
Imagine feeling like your dream is a burden.
Your family is already stretched. You don't ask for the cleats, the keyboard or the application fee, because you don't want to be one more thing they have to worry about. So the dream gets quieter, until one day it's gone.
That's not a lack of talent. It's a lack of access. And access is something we can change.
Now imagine someone shows up. A coach who covers your registration. A mentor who has already walked the road you're on. A laptop that's yours. A scholarship with your name on it. A room full of people working in the field you dream about, who take the time to learn your name. And someone helping your family find the support they need, so your dream stops feeling like a burden.
That's what the Modeeve8 Foundation does. We find the diamonds in the rough and give them the tools, the resources and the team to rewrite what the statistics said about them.
It doesn't matter what label they gave you. With the right mindset, the right tools and the right people beside you, you can rewrite your story.
I know, because I was that kid. My name is Lawrence David Alvarez, and I'm here to show you what's possible.