 Every month our scholars submit their care package forms. And on it, they have to finish one sentence. They pick one: “I’m grateful that…” “I’m excited that…” “I’m looking forward to…” I read every single one and most of the time, the answers are range... Passing a test. Making the Dean's List. I ended a relationship that wasn't good for me. Finally understanding a class that was kicking their butt. Then I got to P.J.’s sentence:  This did something extra to my heart. See… P.J. didn’t come to Clark Atlanta on a straight line. Her dad was never really around. Her mom left that relationship when she was a baby because it was abusive. She grew up as the second of ten kids, trying to find her place in a world that never felt very settled. Then at 17... SHE WAS PUT OUT. Can you imagine the fear, the uncertainty? For a while, she stayed with a friend, trying to figure out where life was going to go now. College wasn’t the conversation anymore. Survival was. Clark Atlanta had always been her dream school, but after that, she wasn’t trying to pick a major. She was trying to figure out if she even had a future that included school at all. And then a woman opened her home to her. P.J. calls her one of her heroes because she did more than give her a place to stay. She gave her permission to dream again. Which brings me to the part that got me. When P.J. was 11 years old, her mom took her to an Atlanta Hawks game for HBCU night. She doesn’t remember the score. She wasn’t watching the basketball. She was watching the dancers. And she decided right then: One day, I’m going to do that. Fast forward. This year is her first year on the Morehouse Mahogany in Motion dance team. And that sentence she submitted on her care package form told me she was about to step onto that exact floor. The same one she stared at from the stands as a child who didn’t know yet how hard life was going to get. I could suddenly see two versions of the same girl at the same time. An 11-year-old locked in on the dancers and not the scoreboard. And a 17-year-old trying to figure out where she was going to sleep after being put out of her home. Those two girls were separated by a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of nights she didn’t know what the next step was supposed to be. And now this college student… our Clark Atlanta scholar… was about to step onto that exact court in front of THOUSANDS of spectators. That’s when JOY hit me. I wasn’t excited because she was dancing at an NBA game. I was excited because a dream that could have quietly died had somehow survived. Because somebody took her in. Because she kept going. Because she made it to campus. Because she auditioned anyway. And because she didn’t just make the team. She got the moment she imagined before life got complicated.  I love watching dreams come true. That's why our Mafia tagline is "Where dreams get the greenlight...one dorm room at a time." My favorite moments at the helm of this miracle movement...miracles yall help us pull off is when life stops looking like survival for them and starts looking like a great college experience. Experiences. Friends. Hobbies Plans. Normal. That word matters more than people realize. I celebrate the big, undeniable miracles. But some weeks the miracle is simply a student getting to have a normal college life. Thank you for being our partner in miracles. And if you are new here...Move-In Day Mafia provides decked out dorm, rooms, and monthly care packages for HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, or unhoused, or experience, severe financial hardships. To date, we have moved in 109 students at 28 HBCUs! WHELP! I LOST MY PROFESSIONALISM...AGAIN! So let me tell you what happened. A few weeks ago a large popular foundation reached out and asked to meet. I didn’t prepare a pitch deck. I didn’t rehearse a presentation. I showed up to talk. I told them the truth. I told them where our students struggle, the parts nobody sees after move-in day, and the areas where I knew they already served well. I honestly hung up thinking, “That was a really good conversation.” Based on their reactions, I figured maybe they’d help us with a program and possibly a low five-figure gift. Which would have been wonderful. So we scheduled a follow-up meeting this week and I logged on expecting to discuss logistics. Instead… she caught me off guard. She calmly said they had decided to invest in Move-In Day Mafia. And then she said the number. SIX FIGURES!!!!!! OMG SIX FIGURES MAFIA MIRACLE MAKER! I didn’t maintain composure. I didn’t nod professionally. I didn’t do the nonprofit executive thing. I cried. More than once. Not polite tears. The kind you cannot stop even when you try to regain your dignity on a video call. And I wasn't even embarassed. Because in that moment, I wasn’t thinking about budgets. I was thinking about the late night conversations with my team. I was thinking about the months where I wondered if we could keep showing up the way our students need us to. I was thinking about how often I quietly say, “Lord, please cover this.” There was no pitch. No proposal. No formal ask. Just God. Sending help I didn't even know how to ask for. And I don’t say that casually. I know the prayers I’ve prayed. I know the fears I carry. I know the responsibility of students who don’t have a backup plan. That gift didn’t feel like recognition. It felt like relief. Because here is the truth: organizations like ours don’t just need help to start students in August. We need stability so students can stay in October… and November… and February… when life happens and college becomes fragile again. When I think about our baby P.J. stepping onto that court, I don’t just see a dancer. I see what becomes possible when a student has enough stability to keep going long enough for life to get good. This grant wasn’t about our organization. It was about protecting outcomes like hers.  Here are a few more shots of their good news.   After the six-figure grant conversation ended, I sat there for a long time. Not celebrating. Not strategizing. Just… thinking and thanking. Because that moment didn’t start this week. It actually started in 2020. I need to tell you something I did not handle well. When God told me to move to Atlanta from Los Angeles in 2020… I pitched a whole fit. He had already pulled me out of my Hollywood career. I loved editing. I loved production. I loved my life in Los Angeles. That was my city. My friends were there. My history was there. And now He wanted me to leave that too??? The part that really got me was this: He didn’t even tell me what I was moving to Atlanta to do. All I knew is that it had to do something with HBCUs. That was it. No details. No job description. No timeline. Just go. And I did not want to do it. I did not want to start over. New life. New friends. New community. I was finally honest with Him about it because I didn’t understand why relocation was necessary for whatever He was calling me to do. That’s when I felt Him say that what He was calling me to build would require me to live in a city where my resources understood I was part of that community. I didn’t fully understand it, but I understood it enough to stop arguing. So I packed up my life, drove across the country, got here… …and a few days later the world shut down. I remember sitting in my new apartment thinking, “You brought me across the country for THIS?” Fast forward to this week. The grant we just received happened because Move-In Day Mafia is rooted in Atlanta. The relationship, the trust, the proximity… all of it came from being here. That is what drew them to us!...We were based in Atlanta! Not from a pitch. Not from networking. Not from strategy. From obedience. I didn’t understand the instruction when I got it. I definitely didn’t like it when I got it. But sometimes God positions you long before He reveals why. And sometimes the miracle you’re praying for today is sitting on the other side of an instruction you didn’t want yesterday. Now before I sign off for the week... Don’t do it… Don’t read this and think, “Oh they got a big grant. They don't need me.” That grant was a blessing, but move-in season still comes every year. The Miracles In Motion Collective is how we prepare for the next group of scholars who are coming in August. Therefore, we still need you in the family with your monthly support, Mafia Miracle Maker. So if you haven't already, please lock in with us. And listen… You don’t have to do something big. Even $1 a month makes you family, and we pool our dollars together. Most people start at $10, and that level gets you #IBelieveInMiraclesForMoveInDayMafia merch plus helps us plan ahead for our incoming scholars. MoveInDayMafia.org/Monthly See you next week. Don't forget to like, comment, share and hug yourself for me.  I’m not going to say Dr. Vicki Robinson was stalking me. But I WILL say she had been very, very quiet untiiiiiiiiiiil... I needed her. I discovered this the way most Move-In Day Mafia problem-solving begins. With a Facebook post and a prayer that somebody’s auntie knows somebody. See....what had happened was... One of our Prairie View A&M students started the semester, but their housing still wasn’t settled. Classes were starting and campus life was moving forward… but the answer to where this student would actually be living had not arrived yet. For some students, that’s inconvenient. For OUR scholars, it can become urgent very quickly. Because when you don’t have a parent’s home to go back to, no guaranteed couch, and no emergency hotel money, “we’re still reviewing your housing” stops sounding administrative and starts sounding like: Where am I sleeping? And this is probably a good place to pause and explain, just in case you're new here... Move-In Day Mafia is a group of volunteers who show up at HBCUs to move students into their dorm rooms and then stay with them for the next four years. We support students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or are navigating serious financial instability. Our goal is simple. Get them out of survival mode so they can actually BE college students. We call it H.U.G.S. Hope. Understanding. Generosity. Stability. Which means when housing isn’t settled, it isn’t a paperwork issue for us. It’s a life issue. We had tried the normal channels and were waiting. Nobody at the university was being unkind. Universities are systems, and systems move at...well system speed. Students live at HUMAN speed. So I did what I have learned actually works. I asked my people. Social media has become one of our strongest tools. I trust our community. Time after time, when a student has needed help, somebody knows somebody who knows somebody and doors open through relationships long before they open through processes. So I made a simple Facebook post asking if anyone had a contact in Prairie View administration who could help us get clarity for the student. A few hours later, I got a DM.  So I responded exactly how a mature nonprofit founder should respond: “LawdHamMussyGeezus.” Then I told her I needed a minute because I had to pick my mouth up off the floor. Because my very real question was: How did my Facebook post about one student’s housing make it all the way up to YOU? Her response was short. “I follow you.” And suddenly I had a brand new concern. How long had she been witnessing my shenanigans? Here’s the part I didn’t understand yet. That message wasn’t a one-time assist. It was an introduction. Dr. Vicki didn’t just help that student. A few months later, she retired from the U.S. Department of Education… and stayed with Mafia. She helps us interview scholars. She helps us navigate universities when we don’t even know what questions to ask yet. She steps into rooms our students don’t have access to and advocates for them with wisdom and calm. She prays for this organization. And during move-in season, she shows up and works like a volunteer, not a dignitary. No announcement. No spotlight. Just presence. I am still in awe of her humility and her willingness to get in the trenches while also quietly having my back. I didn’t recruit her. I didn’t network my way to her. I didn’t even know to pray for someone like her. I was just trying to help a student find somewhere to sleep. But that DM was the first moment I realized something important. Move-In Day Mafia wasn’t only growing in students. It was growing in covering. Sometimes God doesn’t just solve the problem you’re asking about. Sometimes He sends a person who helps you solve the problems you don’t even know are coming yet. Dr. Vicki...Thank you for having my back!  This part always matters to me. Because what we’re aiming for is not just survival. It’s normalcy. Class. Friends. Participation. Focus.  Here are challenges a few of them shared.  When students have stability, their lives start to look like college instead of crisis management. That’s the real miracle most weeks.  Leadership still surprises me. I didn’t set out to run an organization. I kept responding to needs… and eventually the needs formed a responsibility. What I am slowly learning is this: When an assignment is real, you are never expected to carry it alone. Help shows up in different forms. Some people bring resources. Some bring time. Some bring wisdom. Some bring prayer. Some bring protection you don’t even realize you needed. You don’t always know to ask for them. But God does. And sometimes the first sign is a message you weren’t expecting from a person you didn’t know was watching… who had already decided you weren’t doing this by yourself. See you next week. And as always, like, comment, subscribe and hug yourself for me. And one last thing... Tomorrow is the final day of Adopt-A-Scholar Week. Each month our students share what they need and our community quietly makes sure small problems don’t become school-ending ones. You can see the lists at MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar Or donate and we’ll shop for you at MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate   Before we get into what miracle Amazon helped Mafia manifest this time...if you are new here... I'm TeeJ, founder of Move-In Day Mafia. We support HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or are fighting serious financial challenges. We move like family and we stay like family. And every week, I share miracle moments that God makes for Mafia. See. What had happened was... Right before Christmas, I got a call from Terreta Rogers, Head of Community Affairs for the Georgia Region at Amazon. The convo was simple... No proposal. No pitch. She simply said they wanted to do something special for two of our Atlanta scholars for the holidays. I was already smiling because our students rarely receive something that is just joy. Most of what they get from us is necessary. Life-stabilizing. Rent-saving. Crisis-preventing. Beautiful, yes… but practical. Then she added, casually, that Amazon was also sending Move-In Day Mafia another $10,000 check. Wait. What??? Another???? Because they had already given $10,000 during move-in season. And $10,000 the year before! I started screaming in my house. At least this time, I waited until I got off the phone with Terreta this time. Here’s why that hit me the way it did. When I first started Move-In Day Mafia, companies like Amazon were a Year 10 dream. Not a Year 2 reality. I figured if we stayed faithful, stayed consistent, and proved this model worked long enough, maybe one day a company like that would believe in it too. So having Amazon not only show up, but keep coming back… honestly still catches me off guard. But! I wouldn't get to be there this time to witness their generosity. I would have to be overseas officiating a wedding. So my right hand and boots-on-the-ground coordinator, Mina Starks, went in my place.   Because that’s what partnership looks like. The relationship wasn’t with a personality. It was with the mission. But honestly? The check wasn’t even the whole story. Amazon has been showing up for Mafia behind the scenes. Last move-in season, they helped handle logistics across our three Atlanta campuses. That alone is enormous. Move-in day is organized chaos held together by prayer, volunteers, and group texts. LOL Having a partner step into operational responsibility is not small. ✅ They transported 1,000 sheet sets that The Container Store in Dallas donated to us and got them all the way to our storage unit in Atlanta. ✅ They’ve sent people power to multiple move-in days. ✅ They sponsored the dorm room game at THEE HBCU Bingo Experience. And then they came back at Christmas and loved on our students personally!!!! At some point, you realize you’re no longer dealing with a sponsor. You’re dealing with A PARTNER! Sponsors fund moments. Partners invest in students. And when a company keeps returning, keeps helping, keeps asking “what else do they need?”…you understand they don’t just see an organization. They see our babies!...About 8 years sooner than I dreamed! WHAT HAPPENS WHEN STUDENTS' MINDS AREN’T BUSY SURVIVING One of the biggest misconceptions people have about helping students is thinking support just makes life easier. It doesn’t. It makes focus possible. When a student isn’t wondering how they’re getting toothpaste…or whether they can stretch groceries to the end of the month…or whether a small emergency will derail their semester…their brain is finally free to do what it came to college to do. Learn. Explore. Try. Believe they belong there. And when that mental weight lifts, look at what starts happening. A first-year scholar at Spelman, was just accepted into the National Honor Society.  Not surviving. Excelling. Another scholar, R.A., at Howard, texted me after I wrote a recommendation letter for a competition. SHE GOT IIIIIIIIN!  She wasn’t just excited about the opportunity. She was excited that someone believed she should even apply. That’s the part people don’t see. Confidence is not automatic for students who have had to figure life out early. Many of them have learned to keep their heads down, not draw attention, not take risks. But when they know they have people behind them, something changes. They start hearing a different voice in their head. “I’m supposed to be here.” Oh but that's not all... • A Howard University scholar became a certified yoga instructor • A Prairie View scholar passed her insurance licensing exam • A Fisk scholar landing a prestigious internship with Builders Mutual • A Prairie View engineering major returning from studying abroad in Paris after previously interning on the Princess Tiana ride at Disney This is what support actually produces. Not dependency. Capacity. The groceries matter. The bedding matters. The care packages matter. Because they buy something you can’t put on a wishlist. MENTAL SPACE! And when students finally have mental space, they stop just trying to make it through college. They start building a future inside it. WHEN HELP TURNS INTO OWNERSHIP A few weeks ago during a scholars' meeting, I said something without really thinking about it. I told them, “One day my dream is that one of you becomes my successor and runs Move-In Day Mafia.” I expected laughter. Instead, a message popped into the group chat almost immediately. “I’m claiming that, Auntie.” It came from one of our Fisk scholars. I laughed in the moment, but later his mentor told me something I didn’t know. He had already been saying that after graduation, he wanted to come back and volunteer with Mafia. And that’s when it hit me. We are no longer just helping students get through college. We are raising future caretakers. So I made it official. I appointed him our Mafia Student Liaison. If he wants to carry this one day, I’m going to start pouring into him now. Because the real proof a mission is working is not that someone was helped. It’s that someone who was helped now wants to help someone else. Every dorm room. Every care package. Every reminder that they matter. You are not just supporting students. You are helping build the people who will stand in the gap for the next group after them. And that is why the MIRACLES IN MOTION COLLECTIVE (MIMC) exists. WHERE YOU COME IN People often see the big moments. Move-in day reveals. Scholar celebrations. Wishlist packages arriving at dorm rooms. And starting tomorrow, on Valentine's Day, you’ll see them again. ADOPT A SCHOLAR WEEK OPENS! And our students will share the Amazon Wishlist items that help them live day-to-day on campus. If you enjoy choosing something personal and sending encouragement directly, this is your moment. They feel every bit of that care. MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar to get notified. But here’s the part most people don’t see. Adopt A Scholar is how we love students during the year. The Miracles In Motion Collective is how we get ready for them before the year even starts. Monthly support helps us handle the parts no wishlist can solve...the unexpected calls, the travel, the last-minute situations, and the preparation that has to happen long before August arrives. So tomorrow, shop if you want to love a student personally. And if you want to help us be ready before the crisis ever shows up, that’s what the Collective is for. Join the Miracles In Motion Collective: MoveInDayMafia.org/Monthly  A few weeks ago we talked about hurdles. And I’ve still been thinking about that. I ran across a TikTok where someone said their personal mantra was: “You can suck… but you can’t skip.” I don’t even remember who said it, but it has been living rent-free in my head ever since. Some days my daily power walk is strong. Music loud. Pace quick. I feel like I made responsible life choices. But at least once a month (read between the lines,) my body simply does not cooperate. Not laziness. Not lack of discipline. Just a day where everything feels heavier than it should. Those are the days this mantra matters most. On those days my walk looks very different from “optimum TeeJ.” No hills. No speed. No dramatic fitness comeback montage. Sometimes it is slow. Sometimes it is short. Sometimes I am counting the minutes. And sometimes I never feel better at all. But I still go. Because I’ve stopped requiring the result and started honoring the decision. I don’t have to do it impressively. I don’t have to do it long. I don’t have to feel amazing afterward. I just can’t skip. And I realized something. My best on that day is not my best on another day… and that does not make it less valuable. For years we’ve been taught that effort only counts if it produces a visible outcome. But some days obedience IS the outcome. My best that day was good enough. You can apply that anywhere. The email you send even if it isn’t perfect. The project you touch for ten minutes. The apology you attempt even if the words come out clumsy. The habit you keep alive when you barely have energy. Some days excellence looks like momentum. Some days excellence looks like consistency. So this week, release perfection. You can be tired. You can be slow. You can be unimpressive. You can even suck. You...Just...CAN'T SKIP! That's it for this week. Don't forget Adopt A Scholar Week OPENS TOMOOOOOORROW! MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar In the meantime, like, share, comment, invite, and hug yourself for me!  A Year 10 Dream, Manifested in Year 3, From a Seed Planted in Year 2 Hey Mafia Miracle Makers!!! I need to tell you how this miracle actually unfolded, because it wasn’t just one big moment. It was a string of small, Spirit-led moments that lined up just right. It started with me showing up to an HBCU event, being myself, cracking jokes, and following a nudge I couldn’t explain at the time. BUT FIRST…IF YOU’RE NEW HERE Move-In Day Mafia is a nonprofit rooted in H.U.G.S. Hope. Understanding. Generosity. Stability. We move HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or fighting serious financial challenges into their dorms and surround them with family for four years through monthly care packages, resources, and community. This report is called the Mafia Miracle Report because what happens around these scholars is never coincidence. And THIS story absolutely earns the name. IT STARTED WITH ME BEING…WELL…ME Last year, I attended a stop on The Different World original cast tour at Clark Atlanta University. For context, A Different World was a legendary 90s TV show that centered HBCU life and culture. The cast had been touring HBCUs, pouring back into the culture, and Cisco Systems was one of the tour sponsors. I got on the elevator with a group of people, including Mina, my Move-In Day Mafia right-hand, and for reasons I still can’t explain, I started joking and teasing one particular woman on the elevator. Just being silly. Everybody laughing. The woman was dishing it back. No clue who she was. We get off the elevator, go our separate ways, and I fully expect that to be the end of it. Inside the venue, I chose a seat on the third row. Then, about five minutes later, I felt that familiar internal nudge from the Holy Spirit to move. I changed seats and landed in the front row next to a woman who turned out to be a Howard grad. Turns out, her daughter was the moderator for the panel. After the program ended, the crowd moved quickly. I didn’t get a chance to properly say goodbye to my seatmate because we were pulled in different directions. Mina and I ended up in the lobby because I was hoping to catch Dawnn Lewis, one of the actresses from A Different World, to thank her in person.  She had previously given Move-In Day Mafia this beautiful testimony through a mutual friend, and I simply wanted to say thank you. So we waited. While we were sitting there, I noticed my seatmate from earlier, the Howard grad, walking by with her daughter, the moderator. I hadn’t gotten the chance to properly say goodbye before, so I jumped up to catch them. Proud mom introduced me to her baby and it clicked. Her daughter was a news anchor. And in that split second, I remembered who she was married to. Someone who had helped me in a meaningful way in the past. I wanted to grab a quick picture to send him later and say, “Guess who I ran into tonight?” But that’s when I realized something else. I had left my phone behind. With Mina. Which is wild, because my phone is usually glued to my hand. That detail felt small in the moment. It wasn’t. AND THEN…ANOTHER NUDGE I chalked up my left-behind phone to merely a missed opportunity. I didn’t get the selfie. I didn’t get to send the picture. And I figured that was just one of those moments that wasn’t meant to happen. So Mina and I gathered our things, ready to head out. And that’s when the timing doubled back on itself. As we were leaving, I noticed the moderator was still standing nearby, talking with someone else. I had no intention of interrupting. I was ready to leave anyway. But there it was again. That familiar prompting of the Holy Spirit. "Stay. Go get the picture." So I did. And guess what I heard? The gentleman she was talking to explaining that he was the person who oversees HBCU relationships for Wells Fargo. Now you already know...my ears stood straight up. When their conversation wrapped, I politely asked the moderator if we could grab a quick photo. She graciously said yes and I made a note to myself to text her hubby. Time to go! As I turned to walk back toward Mina, I noticed the Wells Fargo rep was still near. Not rushing off. Just kind of lingering. And again, I felt it. I followed the nudge, introduced myself, and told him about Move-In Day Mafia. He perked up, brought his team over, and before we knew it, he invited Mina and me to attend the Morehouse stop, which would start in an hour and was walking distance from the Clark Atlanta campus. And little did I know, that short walk was quietly carrying me right back to the woman from the elevator that morning. LATE-NIGHT PITCH TURNED PARTNERSHIP At the beginning of the Morehouse panel, one of the sponsors was acknowledged. Cisco Systems...You know...the company that most of us know for providing all of our conference room speaker systems. A Cisco rep, Scott McGregor, took the stage to kick off the program and then we listened to the Morehouse students ask the Different World cast some great questions. After the session wrapped, people started drifting off into conversations and goodbyes. I set off to find my new Wells Fargo bestie to thank him. While I was waiting to tell him goodbye, I saw Scott from Cisco standing near him alone. That’s when I felt it again. That same Holy Spirit nudge. Confused, I had no clue why I would need to introduce myself to anyone at Cisco but I did and shared all about Mafia with Scott. He listened and seemed to be genuinely intrigued. Then, waving her over, he said, “I want you to meet my colleague. She’s on the team that awards our grants.” And when she turned around… I burst out laughing. She did too. It was the same woman from that morning in the elevator. The one I had been joking with. The one I didn’t know. The one who had no idea who I was or what I did and vice versa. I officially met Mrs. Shaunya Ishmael. When she realized who I was, we both just cracked up again. One of those full-circle, wait-a-minute moments that makes you stop and smile. Once the laughter settled, Scott looked at me and said, “Tell her what you do.” So I did. I told her about Move-In Day Mafia. About the students. About move-in season. About surrounding scholars with family when they don’t have one. And Shaunya lit up. Not politely. Not professionally. For real. She told me they had a grant coming up and asked if I’d send her information. I looked at her and said, trying to sound casual even though my heart was racing, “Is tonight too late?” She laughed and said no. And I meant it. Because by the time she opened her email the next morning, Move-In Day Mafia was already sitting in her inbox. That email turned into a meeting. That meeting turned into a pitch. That pitch turned into a $15,000 grant. But more importantly, it turned into a ride-or-die advocate in Shaunya Ishmael and a real partnership with Cisco. Cisco showed up for Move-In Day Mafia in 2024. They showed up again in 2025. But this time…they took it even further. THE MIRACLE, LOUD AND CLEAR Last move-in season, Cisco brought Human-I-T into the Mafia family. Human-I-T is a nonprofit organization on a mission to close the digital divide by getting technology into the hands of people who need it most, students, families, and communities who are too often locked out of opportunity simply because they lack access. Together, they put laptops in the hands of ALL 26 of our new Move-In Day Mafia scholars!!!  Every single student we moved in for the 2025 academic year. No waitlists. No “we’ll share.” No “figure it out.” THEIRS. Now pause with me for a second, because this is where some folks might miss the weight of this. A laptop is not a “nice to have” for these students. It’s not extra. It’s not a perk. It’s the difference between: • keeping up and falling behind • applying for internships or missing deadlines • attending virtual office hours or staying silent • building a future or constantly playing catch-up For some of our scholars, this was the first laptop they had ever owned. Not borrowed. Not issued for the semester. Not shared with three roommates. Owned. And when those laptops hit their hands? You could feel it. Relief. Pride. Confidence. Possibility. This is what happens when companies don’t just say they care but fund, build, and show up to deliver. Cisco sent volunteers who came ready to work. Not “corporate pop-in” energy. Real sleeves-rolled-up, let’s-get-it-done energy. They showed up present, engaged, and invested in our scholars in a way that did not go unnoticed.   And alongside them, Human-I-T’s Richard McCall and Jared Rezak were right there in the mix. Richard and Jared stayed with us late into the night during Move-In Season 2025 at Clark Atlanta, Spelman, and Morehouse. We’re talking 2 and 3 a.m. late.  Lifting. Moving. Troubleshooting. Refusing to leave until the work was done. So yes, this started as a dream I thought would take ten years. And yes, it manifested in year three. But because Cisco and Human-I-T said yes when it mattered… Twenty-six scholars are logging into class differently this year. Prepared. Equipped. Seen. That’s the miracle and Mafia is so much better because of persistent partners like them! And get this. As I was putting the finishing touches on this edition, I got another call from Cisco, telling me that they had put our name in the room for ANOTHER opportunity for our scholars. Yeah, that's partnership and our scholars are thriving as a result!  I’ll let their words speak for themselves.   Sometimes we think miracles require massive effort. But this whole story was built on split seconds. A seat change. A pause. A nudge. An introduction. None of it felt big in the moment. Until it was. So if something small keeps tapping you this week, don’t dismiss it. Move on it. Your yes might be the seed for someone else’s breakthrough. Thank you, Cisco. Thank you, Human I-T. Thank you to every advocate who carries our scholars’ names into rooms they haven’t entered yet. And thank you, Mafia Miracle Maker, for believing with us. Until next week... Hug yourself for me! As always, we need your support of the mission at MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate |
AuthorTEEJ MERCER - TeeJ never set out to be an entrepreneur. She definitely didn’t plan to run a nonprofit. But after 25 years in Hollywood, editing and producing for major TV shows and movie studios, she saw a story that needed to be told. More importantly, she saw a PROBLEM that needed to be solved. Archives
March 2026
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