Royce, 16 years old, OR | 12 DAYS WAITING

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Royce is in kinship care and is being raised by his grandmother. Although he is deeply loved, he still feels the lasting effects of growing up without consistent parental support. One of the most significant gaps in Royce’s life is the absence of strong male role models in his home. He thrives when he is cared for by male coaches who provide the encouragement, structure, and accountability that he cannot find at home. These mentoring relationships have become essential to his growth and confidence as a young man.

Royce's classroom continues to present real learning challenges: it's noisy, with frequent distractions from classmates, and his teacher regularly has to redirect class time to behavior management rather than instruction. This makes it difficult for Royce to absorb new material at the pace the course requires. He has started tutoring sessions that have already shown a clear, measurable shift. Royce has taken ownership of his preparation by organizing his materials and identifying focus areas before each session, so tutoring time goes directly to that week's assignments or test prep. His confidence with new material is rising, and he's approaching challenging topics with noticeably less anxiety than when he started. That said, this progress is still building. He has made these advancements with consistent support, and a gap in support now risks losing the ground he's gained. Two tutoring sessions would let him carry that momentum through the next stretch of coursework, solidify the foundation he's built, and continue developing the confidence and stress-management skills he needs to succeed in a classroom environment that isn't set up to give him that space on its own.