A Promise to His Mom

Dec 282012
 

More than 1.5 million American kids — that’s one in 50– goes to bed without a home in the course of each year.

“I refuse to stand quiet as this remains unspoken. At best, people turn away from this news. At worst they do not even know. It is time we all stood for these kids. It is time to rescue them,” said Tom in an e-mail earlier today.

Tom Tuohy is my friend, the founder of Dreams for Kids and a man who is using his life to honor a promise he made to his mother before she lost her life to breast cancer in 1995. “We did not lose my mother then and we never will; her enduring legacy and love live on in the lives of our kids.”

Here is more of the e-mail I received from him:

“I have yet to talk to a single person who is not stunned to hear these statistics.”

Did you know…..

* About a third of the homeless population in the US are is comprised of children. This includes children who are living in: another family’s home due to loss of housing; emergency, domestic violence or transitional shelters; hotels or motels; campgrounds, cars, parks, public spaces, temporary trailers, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus and train stations.

* Of course available statistics do not include children younger than age 6 who would not be served by public schools or those with no custodial guardian.

* Homeless students are more likely to be sick, have more behavioral problems, attend school less, perform poorly academically and often have developmental delays.

Tom continued. “This has become my cause. It is time for everyone to know this. It is a silent epidemic and it threatens not just them but our future. We must find a way to ensure everyone knows about it. Our future depends on it and their lives deserve it.”

Mother’s Day is around the corner. Please join Tom in honoring Moms everywhere by getting involved. Visit the Dreams for Kids website. Like them on FaceBook. Visit a shelter. Make a contribution. Watch the video. Share this post. Change starts with awareness: please reach out in any way that you can.

A Favorite Mothers’ Day Story

May 052011
 

It’s no secret that I love Tom Tuohy and Dreams for Kids and the story of how the two ‘created’ one another.  Anyone struggling to find a way to live their values and pursue a passion will be inspired by their story.


by guest poster, Tom Tuohy

Patricia Tuohy was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a young mother she was left to raise her four young children alone. Mrs. Tuohy dedicated her entire life to making certain all of her children had the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

When her youngest son, Tom Tuohy, graduated from law school and began his career, Mrs. Tuohy was filled with pride. Knowing, however, how difficult it had been for her family to reach that point, she could not help feeling something was missing. Mrs. Tuohy’s heart was dwelling on the many other children who had big dreams but small opportunities.

On a night which will always be remembered as the night Dreams for Kids was born, Mrs. Tuohy took note of the many joyous, blessed people who had come together for a night of celebration. She looked around the room and said to her son. “Now that you’ve achieved your dreams, it’s time to help other kids achieve theirs.

“I remember that one moment as if it had occurred yesterday,” recalls Tom Tuohy. When my mom made that request, we both smiled. We were standing in a room filled with the good fortune of my life, which could have turned out quite differently. I was the youngest child. My mother somehow found the financial means to raise us all on a $6,000 a year salary. When she took a second job, all the kids began working as well. It was difficult for my mom every single day. She carried on with a silent dignity, but there were many times I wondered… <read the rest here>

Why Wouldn’t We Be Happy

Aug 062010
 

by guest poster, Tom Tuohy

My friend Quincy has an infectious enthusiasm. I love the way he just puts his head back and yells, “Yeah!” He doesn’t need a reason to do it, he just does it. He is happy. He loves life. He loves people.

The Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education, (ICRE), is a state facility for young people with physical and or developmental challenges. Quincy, who was born with cerebral palsy, lives there.

On a recent visit, Kristen, one of our volunteers, asked Quincy why he was always so happy. Quincy thought for a minute and said, “Why wouldn’t I be happy?”

We all have the choice to be unconditionally happy. Often we forget how. More importantly we lose sight of the way of being that brings us our greatest joy – being generous.

Everyone has something to give. Life gets in the way sometimes. We are fooled into thinking we don’t have the time, we don’t have the money, we have too many responsibilities……. These things may be true but we always have a choice. It begins with saying ‘Hi’ to the guy who takes our money at the toll booth, the lady standing next to us in line, or the kid who looking at us, hoping we are the hero they dream about.

I wish everyone knew Quincy. They would know that he gets it. “Yeah,” Quincy, if we all realized how you looked at life, we could do it, too.

Every conscious act of engagement and generosity gives us great joy in return. When we DON’T make that choice we are really cheating ourselves. If we all remembered to know this, what we would choose? Why wouldn’t we choose to be happy?

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Adapted from an article by Tom Tuohy, Founder and President of Dreams for Kids. For more information on DFK, click here www.dreamsforkids.org

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