"Gunshots and sirens were my nightly lullaby," said Jonathan Villafuerte over email in regards to his childhood life.
Apartment and car robberies had his family moving all around San Diego in search of solace. The stresses of low income life had Jonathan growing up “a lot different than most people." The way out for the youth of his community was selling drugs and gang violence so they could buy nice things. "Before I knew I had fallen into the trap," he said, "and my grades started to drop, my attitude changed, and I found myself lost without direction." Jonathan confided that he had become calloused because of his harsh life, and apathetic toward the education system that allowed him to lose hope in his future. But hope was found in a non-profit organization supported by students at Point Loma Nazarene University! "I was introduced to Reality Changers during my sophomore year of High School," he said.
Reality Changers is a non-profit organization that helps inner city youth to become first-generation college students by providing mentoring, academic support and financial assistance to underrepresented youth. It was Jonathan’s “way out” and it has been for more than 1,500 students in the past 15 years, according to their website. Jonathan’s future became increasingly salient from there on. "I completely immersed myself in the after school program and it resulted in straight A's which earned me two scholarships to attend Academic Connections," Jonathan said. His hard work and guidance from the program resulted in a private full-ride scholarship to PLNU, where he studied psychology. He didn’t forget where he came from during his time in college. Jonathan started the Student Ministry for Reality Changers on campus, and it has grown since.
Dana Hojsack is the current director of community ministries on campus, and has seen the growth of the Reality Changers ministry over the years. “Reality Changers is a very holistic organization with how they serve their kids; they make it their goal to get the parents involved not just with school, but community, and thinking about the future, and that’s why our students love volunteering with the children,” Dana said in an interview.
Abby Zora has been a student ministry leader for Reality Changers for two years now. She said in a phone interview that “Reality Changers is so important because it gives the kids healthy role models that are in academic places that they want to reach, and allows them to see themselves in our place someday.” She has learned to “come in humble and listen without jumping to conclusions; these kids go through a lot that I will never fully understand.”
Reality Changers’ website boasts that 97 percent of their high school students enroll in college and that 86 percent of those go on to graduate! PLNU students provide guidance and mentorship every Thursday night from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. and meet behind the cafeteria at the loading docks at 5:55 p.m. Students are greeted with home-cooked meals from the children’s mothers at the start of every week! Jonathan’s story is amazing because of how much volunteer college students like those at PLNU can do to drastically change the future of low income families and their students.
