Against The Grain

Easter Sunday morning I woke and laid in bed for a few minutes thinking about what the day ahead would hold.  A special church service, a large dinner with extended family and an afternoon of catching up with friends and relatives I haven't seen in months.  This was not just a normal Sunday morning.  This was Easter.  While thinking through the day ahead it hit me…today is the 23rd of March.  Why does that day stick out in my mind.  I thought for a couple of minutes and it hit me.  March 23, 2003.  That was the day that Meredith came home from a womens retreat and told me the story of the single mother she had spent the weekend with.  That was the day that I ran down stairs and wrote out the plan for the 180 program.  That was the night that we met with the single mother and offered to provide a support system around her to help her achieve her dreams in life.  That was the day that Against the Grain began!  THIS WAS OUR 5 YEAR ANNIVERSAY!!!!  
Easter Sunday ended up having a very special meaning for Meredith and I.  We have spent the last few days talking through the last 5 years.  We have talked about how we started in a 9 x 11 office in our basement and today we have 1450 sq ft, a tutoring center and a training room provided by 4th Ave. Church…there was the picnic in the park with the first 9 moms and their children and now we work with 50 - 75 moms at a time and over 150 children…there have been successes and failures.  Through it all we have been blessed by the constant support and encouragement of over 400 partners who provide the resources to make AtG possible.  
Over the next few weeks we will be recounting some of the memories of the last 5 years.  Check back often and take a walk down memory lane with us.     

One of the young men that we work with has been having problems in school.  He does not pay attention and his grades prove it.  He is consistently in the office and when he comes to Reach & Teach we often have to remove him from the classroom because he is disrupting the rest of the group.  Recently we tried a new approach.  We have pulled him out of the room and provided one-on-one tutoring with him during both sessions.  Last Friday he took his spelling test and only missed 2.  This is a HUGE improvement. 
We have several others who need more focused attention.  If you are interested in assisting a child with basic schoolwork please contact Meredith @ 791-7885 or email meredith@atghope.org