This is one of the greatest OnRamp stories I have ever shared. I’m actually struggling to find adequate words to convey how amazed we all are of our 256th client, Aliyah. This young woman is currently ranked 7th in her class at Bryan Collegiate High School and will graduate with 60 college hours already complete. While that alone is amazing, it means more when you learn that six months ago, she was homeless. Due to her parents’ neglect and imprisonment, she was left in a detrimental and untenable living situation. Yet rather than make excuses, she doubled her efforts at school because she recognized that education was her only path to escape her harsh and insecure world. She woke at 5am to catch public transit to Blinn or Bryan Collegiate. As soon as school dismissed, she would walk 3 to 4 miles miles to HEB to catch a bus to her job at Jersey Mike's, not returning home until 11pm, only to repeat the cycle the next day. And she did all of this while maintaining straight A's and receiving no support.

By God’s grace and the attentive staff at BISD’s Project Hope, Aliyah was introduced to Katie Ruffino. Upon hearing about Aliyah’s challenges and stunning resilience, Katie and her fiancé welcomed Aliyah into their home as her ‘bonus parents,’ helping her in any way possible. Before long, however, they realized that lack of a vehicle would hold Aliyah back from realizing her full ivy-league potential. How would she even get to college if she couldn’t afford a vehicle?

That’s where we come in. Katie nominated Aliyah to OnRamp and, no surprise, our interview team was stunned by her. We accepted her into the program expecting to gift her a 100,000+ mile car, like in most cases. God had other plans. He led our team to an 18,000 miles perfect-as-new Mazda2 just for her. We couldn’t believe our luck! These are unicorns in our price range. We washed it, fueled it, and delivered it to her Friday, expecting this to be the highlight of her week if not year. But we were wrong. The highlight of the week was the letter she got from Brown University. She had been accepted to Brown to study Neuroscience on a FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP worth $400,000!!

*Aliyah (right) receiving the keys from her wonderful advocate, Katie (left)*

There’s a principle in the Old Testament that God longs to restore years that were taken due to suffering and loss. He loves to bless to such an overflow that the losses are rendered “small” by comparison - whether that’s Job receiving from God twice what Satan took or God proclaiming in Joel 2, "I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten... You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.” We don’t know what all God has in store for Aliyah, yet it appears to be monumental.

Let me end with words from our two volunteers who interviewed Aliyah. They’ve interviewed many OnRamp clients over the years, but this interview will stay with them for years to come. From Amy:

”Aliyah is simply inspiring beyond measure! Despite every possible obstacle that has been placed in her path, she has shown true grit and courage to overcome every single one. She is the type of person you meet and you instantly know that she is going to move mountains in life.”

From Amber:

“She blew my mind at her strength and her perseverance through what people twice her age would've crumbled underneath, and yet there's this gentle strength and humility that just rests on her… I actually cried during her interview because I just knew that we were sitting in the presence of someone who has God's hand on their life and that is going to do something amazing.”

Client 256: Homeless to Ivy League