Melissa's High School Ed

Thank you for your on- and offline contributions. I am thrilled to report that Melissa is committed to making up her credits. Melissa put another 2 hours into her online Algebra course today at my home and afterward we went to lunch. Melissa is certain that she can complete this course soon and is looking forward to taking the next one. She told me she wants to make up History and thereafter comes Spanish.

Today I felt that she is focusing on graduating from High School in a big way. She wants to go to college, bad. There were no excuses or negative statements - today she had a plan and wants to move forward with it.

A thank you goes to you because you care about someone you don't even know. What The Women's Code does with your help makes that like bit of difference. The difference between feeling alone and knowing someone cares about how you are doing. My highlight today was her telling me which of her friends need to attend the next Women's Code Conference. Seeds of growth are powerful to watch unfold.

I will keep you posted on our progress. Thank you for the encouraging cards and your donations. Thus far we had 10 donations ranging from $10 to $40.

As of today we are $35 short of enrolling her in her second course. My goal is to have the remaining funds raised by the end of September the latest.

Here is the update on her mothers health. So far she appears to be relatively stable. The big concern is that her health insurance is about to run out. We don't even want to think about what happens afterward. On days when she feels well she is working on a photo album and keepsake boxes for each of her 3 daughters.

Heartbreaking to watch. That is why I focus on what I can help with, which is Melissa's education.

Talk to you soon and again thank you for your support to this worthy cause.

And in case you want to chipin, any amount is appreciated.

Beate

Thank you.

As of today June 30th we have raised $135 via Chipin and $45 offline for Melissa's high school education. When the first $120 came in I called her to tell her. Last Sunday she came to my house at 10AM, bright and early to get started.

I proudly announce that Melissa is enrolled in her first online class for Algebra. After the enrollment and because I had some catching up to do anyway, Melissa stayed right here with me put her first 90 minutes in. Then went to lunch and caught up.

The news are not good to say the least. About 10 days ago the doctors told Melissa that her mother's chemo did not work. As a reminder, this is the 5th bout of cancer in 3 years. The doctors sent her mother home and told her she has until the end of the summer.

My heart stopped.

A few days after I heard the news I went to see Melissa's mother. While she was always a petite she is now down to 80 pounds. Her beautiful hair has fallen out completely and she is unable to keep any food down. On an feeding tube she is physically very weak. But her spirit is strong and she has still some fight in her. In the meantime a new Oncologist has been found and tests are underway to see if she qualifies for a clinical trial.

While I was there we had a fabulous conversation and I promised Melissa's mom that I will do what I can to help her to graduate high school. I also told her how much support Melissa has been receiving and that her story has touched quite a few people. The mom was beaming with pride because she knows just how special her little girl is. It is not easy to stay cheerful when you want to breakdown and cry for the mom and her three daughters.

The next day I dropped by to drop off some groceries and found out that a few hours after we had our great talk her mother crashed once again. She was admitted to the hospital once again two days later.

Dear Reader, I wished I could say it a different way but this is a fight for a life.

Your support is so appreciated. I cannot say it often enough. That people care is the biggest gift we can give to Melissa and her mom. My goal still stands stronger than ever. I want Melissa to graduate high school in June 2013. I need all of you to be her cheerleaders. The toughest part of the road is still to come.

I will keep you updated about further developments. In the meantime please send Melissa a note of support or ChipIn the fund and most importantly pray for her. She is hurting in a big way. But she keeps every card and every note I sent her :)
If you want to mail a physical note of encouragement you can do so by sending it to Beate Chelette ? Melissa, P.O. Box 1293, Culver City, CA 90232

Just a moment ago I got off the phone with a lovely young woman we'll call Melissa*(Melissa’s name has been changed as she and her mother don’t want others to know how bad it is. Having been called “dirt poor” Melissa is very sensitive to having others see what she is going through on a daily basis). She's just 16 and things in her life are about as close to disastrous as they can be. With a mother who is on her fifth bout of cancer lasting 3 years, with her family life torn apart by divorce, bad decisions, and failures, Melissa has felt, and has told me ,that she simply can't turn all of this around, that it's been too hard. Nevertheless, Melissa did attend a conference I facilitated and you know what? She stole the hearts of the entire audience. A wave of support surrounded her that she didn't even know existed.


"I thought nobody cared"


That's what Melissa told me on day one of the conference. On day two she was actually the first one to show up. She took a lot of notes and for the first time she realized that there was another way. Since that conference, I'm proud to report that Melissa is no longer failing, but is passing her classes. She still has eight credits to make it until her high school graduation in two years. And Melissa is finding it difficult, because there simply isn't any money to help her with her extra online courses. Her Mom had surgery (again) last night and during summer school Melissa can only make up one credit at a time, due to budget cuts. The result? Melissa has decided herself that she won't graduate in two years!


In my world, that is a lot of time to turn things around. Melissa and I spoke today and I asked her to give me a dollar amount. It can't be that expensive to take online high school courses. Melissa says it doesn't matter because she can't afford it. I said, so: we'll raise the funds. During the Women's Code Conference, the audience met Melissa. She shared that several bad choices already put her chances of graduating High School in serious jeopardy. Melissa stole the hearts of the audience and her story drove more than one woman to tears. Melissa is each and every one of us. Experiences we lived that shaped our lives. The family torn apart by a messy divorce, the sisters separated from each other. The mother, a woman with a Masters Degree who wrote speeches for presidents seriously ill but fighting for her life despite her fifth bout of cancer.


In all of this Melissa has been like many other teenagers: Trying different things, making not-so -great choices and getting in trouble. I sometimes joke that Melissa should just stop even trying to get away with anything because she is closely watched. Just this week Melissa told me that her beloved grandfather had passed away. Now she's dealing with the loss of that on top of all the other stuff. I believe in Melissa and have taken her under my wing. She's a friend of my daughter's whom I have been seen continually boycott herself, sabotage herself. My goal is to help Melissa build her own future and for her stricken mother's sake to get Melissa to walk up the stairs to graduate with all credits needed in June 2013.


We are not certain that her mother will live to see Melissa graduate but I will pull every string and turn every stone and text Melissa every day if I need to, to get her to her goal: Graduate and go to college. Her college fund has been dwindling due to her mother's illness and inability to work. This has the effect of furthering Melissa's belief that it's never going to work out for her, and that she is a failure and already ruined her life. But college is an issue down the road. Right now we focus on getting her through high school. Melissa is often depressed and feels that the world is hopeless and that at the age of 16 her path is already determined to be a complete and utter failure.


But, she does talk to me and she does listen. She just can't understand why I would care, but I do and I know you do, too. I invited Melissa to The Women's Code Conference because I wanted to demonstrate to her how some of the things women say and do to each other could change someone's life. For the worse and for the better. After the warm embrace of the audience Melissa was invited for lunch and coffee; every single woman at one point or the other had encouraging advice and hugs for her. Melissa said she had no idea people cared. Since the conference I am proud to say Melissa has passed every single class! With the support of the attendees we got through to her. We have an online self-guided and fully accredited program that Melissa researched on her own and she is ready to start. I promised that when she does the work I will help her raise the funds. Our goal is to raise 8x$120= $960 in total. Because I want Melissa to succeed I am raising funds for one class ($120) at a time. She is committed to doing one at a time so that we can teach her how to do the research, set a goal and then succeed and how to repeat this process. I need your help.


As part of The Women's Code we speak about the importance of sharing what we know openly and honestly. To have the next generation succeed we must and should do our part. I am asking each and every one of you to please chip in a few dollars for Melissa. I am visualizing her in her blue gown graduating because of all of you who like me don't ever give up believing in a woman no matter how bad her choices have been. Please click below and donate a little or a lot to Melissa. I will keep you posted on her success. I want to be very clear about why I am doing this. I believe that when we come and support each other, together, as Ambassadors of the Women's Code, that living will be so much richer, rewarding and joyful. Support, believing in and recognizing the essence of each other no matter what is the core of The Women's Code. While I am admittedly nervous on whether or not I can pull this off, I think we can shape the future of one young woman right now.


This is not a cause in a foreign country and it's not a highly promoted new thing to support. Melissa is in our backyard. She's the girl you see every day with orange hair and piercings and tattoos. She's the girl about whom you wonder where her parents are and why she looks like she does. This is the young woman I am asking you to support one step at a time.

Please donate whatever you can and feel compelled to give. A few dollars will make a difference. Our first goal is to raise $120 so that she can sign up for her first course. If we raise more we will apply it to the next course and so on. And, please: post your comments of support for Melissa here or on http://Facebook.com/womenscode. Melissa can handle all the support she can get.