Take Care of the Community that Takes Care of You!
As fate would have it!
I have always loved the mission of Family Scholar House! However, it wasn’t until a November day in 2016 when Megan, a scholar at the time, walked into my office. It was her job shadowing day. From all the social impact sector organizations, she chose me. Not that she knew me or anything but fate must have had it, we were meant to meet each other. I was so impressed to see a young lady who wanted to learn more about our international community! At that time, I was working with several local organizations that aided assistance to refugee and immigrant families.
With questions in her notepad, she proceeds to ask me questions about why I dedicated my career and life to the causes that are a reflection of my life mission and values. Questions like why I decided to do what I do were not new to me and I had developed a generic answer but with Megan, I decided to share my truth. And that answer was as simple as I love helping people. Well that is broad! She says! I then went back and thought some more, and went to say that I love being able to give second chances in life and that I believed in people! That I believed so much in people that processed to say, amazing things happen when you give those opportunities to the people who need it the most, a chance, and an opportunity, simply a new lease on life, like Megan did.
In the face of all the obstacles Megan had faced, she still managed to pursue education. I found that to be extremely brave and I admired her commitment and grit. It wasn’t easy for her, it’s not easy for anyone, but for Megan, the importance of receiving her education was deeply embedded in her life mission. A feat not attainable by most. As I am learning more about her education goals and dreams, I learned how passionate she was about majoring in Political Science. We bonded over this since I had graduated with this degree. Her gleaming eyes showed me why she chose this education path and how much it was going to help fight for the causes she values the most and that was giving back to the community that gave her everything, like FHS did.
As a young girl, I was fortunate enough to have a good support system, a family, who taught me at an early age the value of education. I was aware enough that not every girl got this chance, got this opportunity, got this support system, and got the family to help them through. But I was not aware of how much support was being offered through Family Scholar House and thanks to Megan, I realized that at FSH she was given that opportunity, that system support, that family! Despite everything she had gone through, she was determined to finish her degree and became an engineer all while being a single mother to two beautiful children.
Six Years Later
I am so proud to be part of an organization that is transforming lives through comprehensive educational and family services that are offered to low-income disadvantaged adults, most of whom are single parents and/or foster care alumni. I wholeheartedly believe that education is necessary to lift families permanently from the intergenerational poverty and homelessness that prevents self-sufficiency, and this is why I am proud to add my name to the list of many committed members of FSH.
So in lieu of doing good, I ask whoever is reading this blog, to come together and take care of the community that takes care of you! Let’s do Good Together! Join me!
Antigone Mehani-Asghari
Director of Mission Advancement
E: [email protected]