“Students are adaptable and tenacious,” said Cynthia Miles, Texas Can Academy chief of staff. “Life has gotten in the way for them. They’ve faced the loss of parents, loss of siblings, abuse, sex trafficking, food insecurities, homelessness – every trauma we can imagine and some we cannot imagine. And yet they still want to try.”
Not every student can thrive in our traditional high school system. Often in addition to traumatic factors in their lives, they face the responsibilities of being the family’s primary breadwinner, or becoming young parents, or struggling with learning differences, or discipline issues. Maybe they cannot thrive in a school with 3,000 other students where they get lost and don’t know how to find a way out.
“Dropping out of school is not a place our students wanted to end up, but once you are out of the system, it is very hard to get back in, especially as you fall behind academically, acquire more life responsibilities, or come close to aging out,” added Ms. Miles.
“Our teachers and staff work with our society’s most vulnerable students, and we pay attention to their individual needs. We believe it is an honor and joy to work with these students.”
Cars for Kids – Who We Are And How We Support Texas Can Academies Students
Founded in 1992, Cars for Kids is a car donation nonprofit helping Texas Can Academies high school kids throughout Texas graduate. Texas Can Academy operates schools in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.
Cars for Kids accepts donated cars, trucks, vans, boats, motorcycles, RVs, campers, jet skis, forklifts, trailers, or almost any type of vehicle, whether it is running or not, from all across the country. From the sale of these donated vehicles, we provide much needed funds for students enrolled in Texas Can Academies – currently more than 5,000 kids - the educational opportunities they need and have not been able to find in a traditional school setting.
Our mission is to solicit donations to help kids graduate from high school to give them an opportunity to build a better future.
The kids we serve are often low-income, transient - even homeless, the first generation of their families to attend school past the eighth grade, English language learners, or coping with learning differences. Just making it to school is a significant achievement. They represent the most vulnerable among us.
94.6 percent are at risk of dropping out
20 percent of the students in the Houston school are homeless
92.1 percent are economically disadvantaged
31. 4 percent have limited English proficiency
We ask you to support our financial assistance program for students in schools across Texas. For students with these kinds of daily struggles, the seemingly smallest things can make a huge difference – a school uniform, clean clothes, a bottle of shampoo, healthy snacks. Our goal this year is to provide $125,000 in student assistance funds to our 12 schools. This financial assistance does not go to the students directly. The principals of each school oversee the direction of the financial assistance.
America Can! Cars for Kids, is the only car donation program where 100% of the net proceeds go directly to support kids of diverse backgrounds continue their education. We are committed to creating an inclusive pathway to success for all kids by giving the schools the resources needed for their students to grow academically and empower them for a better future.
Organization name
America Can! Cars for Kids
Causes
Education - K-12, Education - Career Prep
Operating Budget
$3,000,000 - $9,999,999
Counties Served
Dallas, Tarrant
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx
BIPOC Leadership
Neither/None
Address
7100 Marvin D. Love Fwy