Changing the Odds for Boston's Youth
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FEBRUARY 2015 UPDATE
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Because of you, Trinity Boston Foundation is off to a strong start in 2015. You've believed in our youth, attended our events, contributed to our year-end #AngelsHelpUsGrow campaign -- or maybe even run through snow-packed streets with our Sole Train teams. Thank you!
This new monthly e-newsletter is designed to keep you informed and inspired about our work together. In this edition, we spotlight one of our TEEP seniors, Janae Tooley, a young woman overcoming the odds and building a promising future. Trinity Boston Foundation serves more than 500 young people like Janae, all of whom are filled with great promise and potential. Our role is to help them realize it.
I hope you'll join me at our upcoming Bostonians for Youth Gala on Wed., April 8, 2015, at Boston's Fairmont Copley Plaza. There you'll meet many Trinity Boston youth and hear their stories. Your presence and generous support will make a difference in their lives -- and, I promise, in yours. Thank you for your commitment to unlocking opportunity and changing the odds for Boston's youth. See you April 8th!
 Louise Burnham Packard Executive Director
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 | February Profile
Janae Tooley,18, of Mattapan
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A tissue.
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When Janae is not tending to her numerous responsibilities or preparing for her career, she's participating in fun fundraising events like the Rodman Ride.
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A cup of water. A hug.
According to Janae Tooley,18, a world of caring is conveyed by offering these simple gestures of comfort and connection. For the past three years, she has cared for bereaved families at the Floyd A. Williams Funeral Home in Dorchester, Mass., where she works as a part-time greeter and "comforter."
"I ask myself how I'd want people to act toward me in that situation," says Janae. "I can't make assumptions. Not everyone wants a hug. I've had to learn how to 'read' people in this job."
A senior at Cristo Rey Boston High School and participant in Trinity Boston Foundation's Trinity Education for Excellence Program (TEEP) since 2011, Janae recently received word of her early acceptance to the Funeral Service associates degree program at Mt. Ida College. Before applying, Janae visited the campus to attend an embalming chemistry class and a business class designed for funeral directors.
When she isn't paving a path toward her career, Janae is interning in an accounting office to fulfill Cristo Rey's tuition assistance requirement.
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Janae serves as the night time caregiver for her grandmother suffering from Alzheimers.
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When it comes to her future role as a mortician, Janae envisions doing much more than comforting grieving families. She wants to learn how to prepare bodies for burial.
"It's a privilege for a family to allow someone to touch the body of their loved one," she says. "I want to be that person who gets [the deceased] ready for the next part of their spiritual journey."
TEEP assistant director Susan Khurshudyan has helped Janae navigate her own journey -- one that has required self-discipline, scrutiny and research.
"I couldn't have gone through the complications of college applications and visits without Susan's help," says Janae. "But now that it's done, I've never been so confident of anything before. "
Having confidence in herself to complete college is one thing. Having confidence that financing will come through in order for that to happen is another. Janae has received a modest scholarship, and she's hoping for more financial assistance.No matter what happens, Janae insists she will find a way to her future as a funeral home director.
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