Trinity River Mission Helps Child...and Mother!

Ally Lopez was 6 years of age when she and her mother came to the U.S. from Mexico. Neither spoke a word of English. But Maria, Ally's mom, knew that Ally would never succeed in American schools if she didn't learn English quickly.  Fortunately for Ally, her mother was told about Trinity River Mission (TRM), an academic-focused afterschool program in their West Dallas community.

Ally enrolled at TRM in first grade and was helped by her TRM tutors to learn English.  Today, Ally is a 7th grade student at Dallas ISD's Irma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School and is a straight A student!  She has a passion for reading, particularly Harry Potter or Twilight books.  Through TRM, she is now also serving as a "Reading Buddy", helping younger students to learn English just like she did six years ago.  Thanks to the encouragement of her TRM mentor, Ally has plans to attend college and design the first underwater roller coaster.

Ally is one of many success stories produced by the staff and volunteers at TRM, but so is Maria.  TRM encouraged Ally's mom to learn English with Ally so that she could play an active role in Ally's education in the U.S.  TRM referred Maria to Vickery Meadow Learning Center, where she learned enough English to be able to read Harry Potter books with Ally. TRM has taught Maria how to be involved in Ally's education, and when the time comes, TRM will lead them both through the college application process.

Watch Ally and Maria's story on WFAA's "After the Bell".  You'll see first-hand that afterschool programs like TRM are not babysitting.  They are a critical resource to equip youth and their parents with the skills they need to achieve educational success, thereby stopping the escalating numbers of minority students who have been dropping out of school in recent years.