Good evening everyone! My name is Jacqueline Velez. I am the proud mom of a 27 year old daughter who will soon be heading off to college and a 10 year old boy who loves Basketball. Who knows? You may be looking at the mom of the next Shaquille O’Neal.
I am also a proud graduate of Bard Microcollege Holyoke. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, dropped out of school in the ninth grade and had my daughter by the age of twenty. When my daughter was around eight years old she told me to go back to school. I took her advice but after my first semester a bad decision landed me at the notorious Riker’s Island. Over the next several years I went back to school a few times but it didn’t work out. I was a single mom, working dead end jobs, without much support. It seemed insurmountable to me so I gave up on pursuing higher education. About a decade later I moved to Massachusetts with my adult daughter and toddler determined to give him a better life than I was able to give her.
Finding The Care Center
One day I was with my son at the WIC office. A flier caught my eye. A place called The Care Center was offering six college credits for studying the humanities. Although I was no longer interested in obtaining a degree I have always loved literature and writing. I was unemployed, on food stamps, receiving WIC and Section 8 rent assistance. I called immediately. When I entered The Care Center, something magical happened. The more classes I attended, the more I wrote, the more I came alive. I never missed a class even when I was sick.
I was used to professors marking my papers with red ink and that would discourage me. That did not happen at The Care Center. Instead, I received letters of encouragement, telling me all about the things I was doing well and should do more of. Before I finished the Clemente class, this white woman would wait for me after class to talk with me about college. I didn’t see a way but she saw a way and she was RELENTLESS! Her name is Mary Anne Myers, Founding Director of Bard Microcollege Holyoke.
The Call from Oprah
Fast Forward to Spring 2020. We were dealing with a pandemic, and who knew how to deal with that? Somehow The Care Center and Bard adjusted and moved classes online. I accepted a job offer on a U.S. Senate campaign, working fourteen-hour days, raising a school age child now, just bought my first home, and had two classes left to receive my degree. Again I couldn’t see a way but Professor Myers did. She decided we would both wake up at 5:30 am to do my independent study class together. I suspect she thought I was dramatic. She would joke, “Save it for Oprah Jackie.” Well, that spring, Oprah’s team called. They published an essay I wrote about being in solitary confinement. Who says “no” to Oprah, right?
For the first time in my life I truly felt supported but even more importantly I finally felt WORTH IT! It started at The Care Center. They refuse to let us fail. They work diligently to make sure their students understand that WE belong there and WE are worth it! No matter how long it takes, no matter what you need, You Are Worth It!
My Life Now
I now work at the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, sustaining a culture of health equity in the Greater Springfield area. My income doubled from the last job I had in New York. I am able to provide for my family better than I ever have before. Sometimes I wonder how I did it, then realize it was because of the support from the staff and teachers. Because they believed in me more than I believed in myself, and they believed it so much they made me believe in me. And Ladies (I’m looking at you students and graduates), don’t just Keep Going, Show Up, Show Out, Go All Out!
Keep Going! You will be proud of yourselves and your kids will be proud of you too. They will benefit from the sacrifices you make every day. Thank you for dedicating yourselves to give them better lives and breaking generational poverty cycles.
I want to thank everyone for coming here this evening. If you’ve given to The Care Center before – whether it was your money, time, and/or talents, what you do is so deeply appreciated. On behalf of all the graduates of this life-changing program, I thank you! I am proof of what your generosity achieves.
