Help Me Get To Ithaca College!

Young people who experience homelessness are 87% more likely to drop out of high school. My name is Valentino Khaksarian and I defy this statistic. At the age of three I was taken away from my mother because she was using drugs and being beaten by a man who claimed he loved her. Eventually, I was stripped from my mother entirely and put in a foster home.

At the age of seven, I returned to my mother, who assured me that period in her life was over. For a moment, I had a glimpse of what childhood could look like. It didn’t last. In sixth grade, I came home and found my mother’s sobriety in pieces on her bedroom floor. After bouncing from various apartments and cars, we ended up “living” secretly in a shed in the back of my mother's work. She often disappeared for days on end without notice and I was left to care for myself. I signed my own permission slips, bought my own groceries, and transported myself to and from school. When she took our only key with her during my spring break, I slept in a tent outside of city hall and ate leftovers from the Starbucks across the street.

Not long after, I put my foot down. As I told my mother I was moving out because she was incapable of providing for me, I felt like Atlas holding up the sky. Even though I will always love her, it was time for me acknowledge that staying with her was detrimental for me and I had to go. I had to focus on myself rather than putting other people's interests before my goals.

For the last two years I have lived with friends and maintained my laser like focus on getting into a four year college. On March 24th, my life changed for the better when I received an acceptance to Ithaca College, my dream school.

While I am as determined as ever to get to Ithaca, I am once again facing a daunting barrier. Between grants, scholarships, and federal loans I am left with a $24,000 gap for each year I attend IC. That's where you come in. Every dollar you contribute is one dollar closer to my dreams. Homeless youth who attend college are four times more likely not to graduate - I REFUSE to let that be me. Please contribute what you can and pass this campaign on to others willing to help.