Below is the transcript of Crystal Cappas’s speech at The Care Center’s 40th Anniversary Fundraising Party.
My name is Crystal Cappas, and last October, I started as the Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator at The Care Center.
My connection to The Care Center began much earlier. Twenty-eight years ago, my mom was a student in our GED program. I was a baby in our daycare, cradled by Monica’s mom, Aida, neither of us knowing we’d one day be colleagues.
My mother gained so much love and support at The Care Center, and while she didn’t complete her GED, the seed was planted: a lasting belief in the power of education.
I grew up in the projects, watching my mom struggle and sacrifice every day. It pushed me to do better—not just for myself, but so she would never have to worry about me.
No matter what was happening, my mom reminded me that education was my way out. That belief became my guiding light—the one thing I could control when everything else felt uncertain.
I worked hard, knowing that if I didn’t fight for my future, no one else would.
My Impossible Choice
During high school, many around me were aiming for Harvard, Yale, and other top schools, with clear paths and the support to get there.
Even though I was just as smart and worked twice as hard, my experience was different. I was figuring it out on my own—and realizing how alone I was.
After graduating from high school, I was expected to move out. I couldn’t afford both college and a place to live, so I made an impossible choice.
I quit my first semester of college and began working three jobs.
While my peers moved into dorms and started college, I was learning to stretch every dollar, push through long days and nights, and carry the weight of adulthood.
That year shaped me, teaching me perseverance and building the strength to keep going. I re-enrolled in college, taking one course at a time, until free tuition opened the door—and I rushed in, taking as many courses as I could.
Why I Kept Going
Before I knew it, I was juggling full-time work, school, stepmom duties, and a pregnancy. It was exhausting. I cried countless nights, often asking God, why me? Why can’t life be easy just once?
But I never gave up. I wiped my tears and reminded myself I had come too far.
That I owed it to myself and my family to keep going and that it would all be worth it one day.
After 11 years, I finally earned my associate’s degree. Finishing at 29 wasn’t the plan, but it was a goal I refused to give up. I’ll be finishing my Bachelor’s in Psychology with high honors next year.
Coming Full Circle
All those years of watching me fight for my education reignited something in my mom, too. Last year, we celebrated a milestone together—my mom finally passed her GED. The first thing she did was call her Care Center counselor from decades ago, the same woman who is still at The Care Center planting seeds of possibility.
And now I stand here as part of The Care Center team to make sure that women like my mom, like me, are seen, supported, and encouraged to pursue their dreams, no matter how long it takes.
Today, I stand here as the first in my family to graduate from college.
I’ve turned goals into accomplishments, built a loving family, bought a home, and I have a great job! And most importantly, I have shattered generational cycles and become the woman I once aspired to be.
