Aaron, the father of little Aaron, a 4-year-old boy in a preschool classroom, shares his story and goals for his family’s future. (running time: 1 min. 37 sec.)
View Transcript
Aaron:
I’m grateful for the program that my two youngest children are in. I’m a single-parent of 5. I’ve got a lot going on and it’s pretty crazy. So knowing that the twin boys are in a good place – that makes a big difference. The teachers are great there. I appreciate how much they have helped my boys. It hasn’t been easy on us. Our family has struggled with poverty, substance abuse, medical emergencies, and the twins have seen violence in the neighborhood. But it’s my priority to keep my children safe. With Aaron and Ahmad in this program, I know they are taken care of and learning. What I really want for my children is to have a future and I think we are finally on the right track.
Teachers in the past have sometimes caught me off guard, talking to me about not bringing in the right change of clothes for my boys, or not sending them to school with the right breakfast food. I think to myself, they have no clue what is going on with this family. We don’t always have food in the house. Or maybe I forgot about the note to bring a change of clothes, but I’m worried about how the kids are going to act up that day at school ‘cause of violent upheavals they went through the night before – that’s the last thing on my mind. That teacher didn’t see what my boys saw last night. I’m trying my best to create a safe-haven at home for my boys. I want to exclude negative influences because those influences are up and down the street all the time.