David: Growing Up in Children of the City
When David Santos was nine years old, a Children of the City outreach counselor visited his home. “My mom just loved it,” recalls David. “She was a single mother, and to hear that someone was willing to grab her four kids and take them for a Saturday morning, well, she agreed to that. I grew up with Children of the City. If I had a dollar for every hour I spent there I could retire right now.”
In fact, David has made Children of the City his second home. He began volunteering in the programs when he was a teenager. He wrote and performed Rap Music with values-based lyrics that reiterated the principles he leaned when he attended the Future Safe Program. Now David is a V.P. at Goldman Sachs, and is grateful to Children of the City and the counselors he met there. David credits Children of the City with helping him learn the principles for success that helped him to rise above the effects of poverty that surrounded him.
“There is a generational prediction for children who grow up in single parent household, with no biological father in a gang infested neighborhood, but I learned the principles of perseverance, hope, and believing in yourself. I broke through so many barriers and stereotypes. I’ve come a long way.” No matter how busy David’s schedule gets with his career and family, he always makes time to stop by Children of the City to share stories with the kids and offer encouragement.