Tutoring for Jordan

Published on July 8th, 2015

A letter from Jordan's mom:

Dear Peace Fund:

Hi my name is Marielise. I’m Jordan’s mom. Jordan is a sweet, affectionate, and caring young boy. Jordan grew up for the first two and half years of his life in Florida. Divorced from Jordan’s dad, I met a man in California, fell in love, and agreed to have him move Jordan and myself out west to start a life together. We moved to California in 2009, when Jordan was almost 3. It was a big adjustment. We had left our family, our friends, and my career behind in Florida. Jordan stood at my side as my new husband and I exchanged vows. It seemed we were happy. We found a routine, stability, and a new family with lots of new friends.

On December 22, 2012, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy, double mastectomy, and 18 rounds of chemotherapy over the next year and a half. When I was diagnosed, Jordan didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation until I was gone for eight days after my surgery and returned home in shambles. My mom took care of us at the beginning of our journey, and Jordan became my little nurse. He was so afraid for me when my hair fell out that he never wanted to leave my side. At one point I asked for help from his friends’ parents, so he wouldn't have to witness my illness so closely. He would go with them crying, saying he wanted to go home because he didn't want to be far from his mom. By the time I was done with the chemotherapy, my second marriage had fallen apart, I was unemployed, and Jordan had witnessed more things than most grownups see in a lifetime. Our new life had turned upside down.

With my divorce pending, Jordan and I moved to our own place in July of 2014. Jordan actually begged the manager to let us move in. He told her, “My mom really needs this place because she has been so sick and so sad.” (My little star). It was hard. I still needed to find a job, and Jordan seemed to be having a hard time in school, his mind obviously traumatized by the previous 18 months.

In December of 2014, we decided to return to Florida for the holidays to spend time with my mom. However, we found my mom had become very ill. I now was between a rock and a hard place. Jordan needed to be in school, but I had to stay by my mom’s side. I tried to enroll Jordan in school in Florida and transfer his school records from California, but both efforts failed. Then my mom passed away. It was devastating for both of us.

We moved back to California in March of 2015 to try to move on, but Jordan has fallen far behind in his schoolwork. I do my best to help him academically, but he continues to struggle. He has lost faith in himself, and now his teacher thinks he should repeat 3rd Grade. But after everything Jordan has suffered over the last two years, I feel that repeating 3rd Grade would be yet another devastating blow to his morale.

Jordan’s teacher believes that a good tutor could make all the difference. Jordan has a heart of gold, and he deserves a chance to be 8 years old again. I hope you can help me make my little star shine again.

Sincerely,

Marielise

OUR GOAL: Raise $3,000 to provide Jordan with a tutor between July-October 2015 to get him back on track. Jordan is on the fence – let’s not let him become another statistic. Thanks to all of our supporters who made this possible!

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