Seattle Urban Academy: A Fresh Start for Struggling Students
Last year, Elijah was almost shot while walking in Rainier Beach. “This car pulled up. A guy pulled out a gun on me and my friend,” he says. Elijah was terrified, but he got away. Two hours after he left, there was a shooting in that very location.
Elijah’s life at that point was the polar opposite of what it is today. He was skipping school. His grades were terrible. His future looked bleak.
But with God’s grace, a lot of determination and your generosity, Elijah turned his life around. He rejected peer pressure and started focusing on school.
School didn’t come easily for Elijah when he was young, but he still did well—even amidst childhood struggles: death of close family members, health challenges, and custody battles with his absentee father.
Then he started high school. And everything went downhill. Elijah’s mom Teresa says, “The school system really failed my son. He wasn’t getting the type of help he needed.”
It wasn’t just the lack of academic support. The social environment was poison. “Drugs, alcohol and gangs,” Teresa says the old school “was infested” with them. Elijah’s grades plummeted. He started skipping class.
Eventually, Elijah went to a military school. It was a significant turning point for him. After completing the program, Elijah knew he couldn’t go back to his old life. He needed a new environment. He needed to stay on track. So Elijah came to Seattle Urban Academy.
Just a few months ago, his 17-year-old cousin was shot and killed.
“I’m seeing people that I love and grew up with leaving this world, because the streets eat people up,” he says. Now, every week, Elijah mentors other young people to help them avoid a deadly fate. Elijah’s always loved science, and he wants to pursue a career in nursing.
“I feel like I was put on this earth for a reason,” Elijah says. “I’ve been reading about [the prophet] Elijah. He was healing people. So I put the pieces together, like maybe my mission on this earth is to help people and be there for people.”
You’re helping make Elijah’s mission a reality—against the odds. “There aren’t a lot of African Americans in the nursing field and there aren’t a lot of males,” he says.
Your support of Elijah’s calling isn’t just academic. You’re giving him access to practical career training. In March, he job shadowed nurses at CRISTA Senior Living. He’s already been accepted to Nursing Camp at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
He’s also joining a Seattle Youth Employment program that will equip him to graduate high school next year as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).
“All these different nursing possibilities started coming,” he says. “All the past is being burnt up in shreds. I could have a job at Swedish when I turn 18, if I get my CNA. It’s amazing how God works.”
Thank you for helping Elijah receive spiritual, academic and career support every day. With your help, Elijah’s nursing career is becoming a reality.