66. A Mission to Serve Kids Experiencing Homelessness - Susan Agel
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Overview
Meet Susan. She's on a mission to partner with families experiencing homelessness to educate their children and create pathways to success through her organization, Positive Tomorrows. As the only private school in America devoted solely to educating children experiencing homelessness, they’re leading the charge in developing a comprehensive educational system built to bring these students up to a level playing field. But they're also bringing fun and heart too. Tune in and get inspired.
Today’s Guest
Susan Agel, President, and CEO of Positive Tomorrows
“Our goal is to have kids do well in school, the parent(s) be contributing to society, and having the family as stable as possible. ”
What is Positive Tomorrows? (1:09)
A little bit about Susan (3:12)
The Homeless Cycle and Powerful Statistics (4:18)
The goals of Positive Tomorrows (12:08)
Why is Positive Tomorrows the only one of two of its kind? (14:44)
The different program opportunities Positive Tomorrows utilizes (17:40)
How philanthropy and the Oklahoma City community has empowered Positive Tomorrows (24:47)
A great philanthropic moment (32:12)
Susan’s One Good Thing: Be kind. (34:42)
Becky’s One Good Challenge: What is happening in your community with your homeless children? (36:22)
Powerful Quotes:
“One of the things that are most surprising to people is how many homeless families and homeless children there actually are.” - Susan
“What do they need? What do they like to do? Do they have a dream for their future?” - Susan
“Our goal is to have kids do well in school, the parent(s) be contributing to society, and having the family as stable as possible.” - Susan
“The assumption is they’re getting less (than public schools), but actually, if you come to look at our programs, you see they get all the support they need. We make sure they have everything they need.” - Susan
“People in nonprofit who take on these large scale dreams are the heroes in our industry.” - Becky
“We want them to have an interest, we want them to figure out what their talents are.” - Susan
“I just think these enriching activities, these are the things that could also give children vibrancies, joy, and passion, and those are the things that we have to just tap into.” - Becky
“You’re giving kids the ability to dream.” -Jon
“The funders stepped up and really made a lot of it happen.” - Susan
“It’s such a pleasure for me to be here every day.” - Susan
“Just be kind.” - Susan’s One Good Thing
“What is happening in your community with your homeless children?” - Becky’s One Good Challenge
“We’re ready to do whatever it is we need to do to help.” - Susan
