Growing up Quick, Finding a Way Forward
Keshawn demonstrated character and sacrifice when the responsibility fell to him to raise his younger brothers.
The step into adulthood comes at different times in everyone’s life. Sometimes it happens upon graduating from high school, as one leaves home to begin a career or attend college. For Client #40, though, it happened much earlier. Having grown up in a single-parent home, Keshawn was already working hard to help support his family by the time he was 14 years old. By his junior year of high school, both of his parents were no longer in the home, and Keshawn was left with the responsibility of providing for his two younger brothers.
Trying to balance his future in one hand and the immediate needs of his family in the other, Keshawn made the very difficult decision to drop out of high school in order to work and support his brothers. Now, years later, the man who consistently put others before himself is finally in a position to invest in his own future. Yet because of his choice to prioritize others’ needs over his own, Keshawn has faced an uphill battle (with one of the most recent challenges being reliable transportation). After his last car was totaled in a hit-and-run, Keshawn was left without a way to get to a job he loved—a job in which he was making progress toward a promotion—and instead had to settle for a lower-paying job within walking distance of his home.
Keshawn was nominated by his incredible advocate, LaQuetta, a life coach and mentor from his church who has been working with him over the past year in areas of personal, professional, and spiritual development. She has helped him grow in personal finances, worked to build his self-confidence, and gotten him deeply connected to a church where he has formed strong relationships with other men. LaQuetta is the kind of woman you want on your side. She. Gets. Things. DONE!
LaQuetta and Keshawn
WHEN A GIFT IS MORE THAN A GIFT
On the day of the giveaway, Keshawn showed up with a smile that never faded. He told us about how he had been up since 4am that morning, excited to see the car and anticipating the giveaway. When Keshawn finally got to get into his 2013 Toyota Yaris, his already beaming smile somehow grew wider. Keshawn knew that this vehicle wasn’t just any other car. It was a gift and an investment into him and his future that the OnRamp DFW team was excited to be a part of.
One small example of the hope of a new future we saw in Keshawn was that from the time he applied to OnRamp DFW to the time he received his car, not only did he sign up for and pass the GED, but he also enrolled in IT school! Keshawn was clearly a self-motivated and hard-working man before we ever stepped into his life, and yet getting to provide a reliable vehicle to a brother in Christ that will allow him to continue on his way was an honor.
Thank you to our amazing supporters who contributed the funds that let us purchase this reliable Toyota Yaris for Keshawn! A few weeks after the car giveaway when I (Taylor) was following up with him, he said that the car was opening up so many new opportunities for him both in work and life.
