August 15, 2024

Abenicio Rael | Scholars Unlimited

WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? WHY IS THIS WORK IMPORTANT TO YOU?

​I think, personally and professionally, what I stand for is education equity and ensuring that communities of color and historically marginalized communities have access to education. Not just access to education, but access to the tools they need to be successful in the education arena, helping to create a mindset of nurturing a college-going culture. Often when we think of of college, we think of the university setting or getting a master’s degree. Today, students are realizing that they can go into a trade program, they can get a certificate online, and that’s the same thing as college. Those are still opening doors, and families can realize that education as the gateway for social upward mobility. This work is important to me because I was one of those students. My dad worked two jobs, and my mom worked two jobs; they worked hard so my brothers and I could have food on the table, clothes on our backs, and so that we could go to school. I see that same drive within our communities that are kind of left behind, and I want to make sure we are breaking down barriers so that our communities have access to education.

Our families are working-class families, and with a majority of the grants that we receive, we’re required to serve a threshold of historically marginalized families. We’re providing a place of safety and really a place of comfort for the parents, knowing that their kids are safe after school while they continue to work. They don’t have to take time off to pick up their kids, so they get a full day of work in. That’s another part of the impact that we have, but really what we’re doing is changing the lives of the students and the families and creating the opportunity for growth and development.

WHAT IMPACT ARE YOU MAKING?

We are increasing literacy levels for children in grades K-5. We’ve served over 30,000 children throughout our program and that number just keeps growing and growing. In addition to seeing literacy rates increase, we’re also seeing an increase in vocabulary throughout our summer programs. Our students are actually ready for the next year, so they bypass what’s called “summer melt,” where they’re not doing anything over the three months of summer. Some end up falling behind, but our students are actually coming out ahead. In the past, we were doing a lot of housing/rental and utility assistance, where families would apply through our program, and we would help them with a monthly rent or mortgage payment or a utility payment just to help them stay on their feet and continue to provide for their families. 

WHAT (OR WHO) INSPIRES YOU TO DO THIS WORK?

My community inspires me. For instance, it’s very difficult for families who are in the food or restaurant or construction industries; oftentimes, there’s not an opportunity for them to do the research and find resources. So for us to be able to do that for them, it really inspires me. To be able to be a leader of an organization that is having an impact in the community that’s what inspires me. When I wake up every morning and put my feet on the ground, I say to myself, “All right, Abenicio, what impact are you going to have today? What are you grateful for? And how are we going to make a difference?” Reminding myself that the students and the families we serve are what inspire me to do this work.

WHAT’S YOUR VISION, YOUR BIG DREAM FOR THE IMPACT YOU WANT TO MAKE?

My vision for the organization is to really think about expansion. We are a 30-year-old organization. When I first started in this position last year, friends and people in other leadership roles asked me what I was doing and where I was, and they weren’t familiar with Scholars Unlimited, as opposed to the Boys and Girls Club or YMCA. We’re similar, only we have a different model and a different curriculum with regard to our literacy-focus and our STEM focus. People don’t know who we are, and to me, as a 30-year-old organization, we should be much more known than that. My vision is to really expand the organization. Not just marketing our brand, and not just creating a strategic plan, but we’re only in a certain amount of schools in the metro area. My hope and my vision is to expand statewide and to expand into more grade levels. Let’s get past the elementary level. Let’s move into the middle school component, and then let’s move into the high school component, where we’re doing college preparation, test preparation, and leadership components for students, so that they can see themselves reflected by other leadership.

WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACING?

The challenges we’re facing right now are budget constraints. Some grant funding has dried up. Some grants are shrinking in the amount and size that they put out originally. A lot of our previous donors are aging out. Some of them are putting us in their wills. But the budget constraints, the limited grants have been the challenge.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CAUSE AND/OR THE WORK YOU’RE DOING?

I think our data speaks for itself with regard to the impact that we have on the community, the qualitative data we have from families. We’re really changing the lives of children and families that are in our communities and creating opportunities for advancement. We’re knocking down barriers for access to academic excellence, and students are really increasing their literacy rates. Students are developing their social-emotional skills. We know that Covid had a huge impact, so right now the current fifth grade kiddos that we’re serving all spent first grade at home, and their second grade they spent in masks. So they don’t have the social skills that they need to be in school, be successful, and manage their emotions. And so that’s really what we’re doing, is teaching students how to be engaged with others, how to make friends, how to be respectful, and things like that. I think the work that we’re doing is having a positive impact on the families that we serve.

HOW CAN OTHERS SUPPORT YOU OR YOUR CAUSE?

We’re looking for new donors, new people who can relate to our cause, relate to our mission, who see the benefit, who see the impact and want to contribute to the work that we’re doing to make sure the organization is sustainable and increase the number of students that we’re serving. Because of our budget constraints, we limit the number of students in our programs and we limit the number of schools that we’re able to serve. Increasing our funding, increasing our donors, that’s really going to help us to expand and to serve a larger population of students while continuing to keep a quality program.

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