Growing up, basketball helped keep me away from street violence and drugs. I would spend my days hanging with teammates or other players from the city. Then things changed. On September 13 2018 tragedy found the City of Lawrence and I lost my good friend Leonel to the Columbia Gas explosion. I was sitting in a car with him and was inches from getting struck by the falling chimney that took his life and injured several other friends. For the rest of the story ...

Eulalia moved to the US from the Dominican Republic in 2012, when she was in her 50s. Despite being the primary childcare provider for her grandson, she rarely misses an ESL class at the Quintana Center, often walking several blocks in the rain, cold, or whatever the weather.

Many students in her position would feel limited and discouraged by their age. She repeatedly expresses that her children do not want her to take English classes because they want to be able to rely on her for childcare. For the rest of the story ...

To say that Kristian has lived a tough life, would be dramatically underselling his story. Overwhelmed with difficulties at home, Kristian dropped out of High School in 2015 and became involved with less than productive activities on the streets. In 2018, Kristian was stabbed in the arm. Friends suggested he check out the SISU program and try to get his life back on track. Shortly thereafter he found himself without a stable place to live and spent his nights sleeping on floors and couches. For the rest of the story ...

Esmerlin is a 21 year old student from the Dominican Republic. She has completed several sessions of Saturday Casa Dominicana ESL classes at the Quintana Center. Esmerlin has shown extraordinary dedication to her studies. She regularly takes on extra work in and outside of class to continue improving her language skills. Her dedication has been rewarded and she has progressed quickly through the levels of ESL. She often works with other students in her classes who are not as comfortable with the language. For the rest of the story ...

Scottie was born and raised in Lawrence. When he was 9 years old his father was incarcerated on federal drug charges and his happy family was split up. Shortly after, his parents’ marriage ended and his mother struggled financially. Attempting to protect him, Scottie’s extended family kept the truth about his father’s incarceration from him until a cousin let it slip. Scottie was crushed and felt that he no longer had any guidance in his life. For the rest of the story ...