From Foster Care to Capitol Hill: Your Miracle Impact Hits

Oooooo I am about to braaaaaaag on one of our Mafia Scholars, and you’re not ready for this glow-up.

From foster care at two years old…to Capitol Hill. And she’s not done yet.

This week’s Mafia Miracle Report is short, but that’s only because we’ve been knee-deep in interviews with the next cohort of Mafia Scholars and I’m gonna be honest. These stories? Heavy. Beautiful. Brave. And they’re wrecking me in the best kind of way.

Just in case you are new here...

I'm TeeJ, the founder of Move-In Day Mafia. We provide decked-out dorm rooms and monthly care packages for HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or grapple with severe financial hardships. And every Friday, (mostly,) I write about the miracles that we regularly walk in.

Let me introduce you to one of our powerhouses.

Her name is Alexis.

Alexis is one of our scholars at my alma mater, THEE Howard University. and she is walking proof that foster care doesn’t get the final say.

Alexis has been in foster care since she was two years old. But she’s never let that stop her from chasing excellence. When we met her last year, she had already locked in her spot as a resident assistant and earned her place at the table through nothing but grit, grace, and GPA.

I still remember her very first interview last year. There was something about the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the strength in her quiet. I knew she was destined for something bigger. Move-In Day Mafia was supposed to walk with her to the finish line.

But here’s the part I will never forget.

While she was doing a media interview during move-in, I overheard her say, “It meant so much to be able to pick my own hair products.”

That stopped me cold. Because that is what makes our Mafia Miracle Makers different.

We don’t operate with a “take what you get” mentality. We don’t hand out boxes with whatever’s left on a shelf.

We ask. We listen. We honor. We give CHOICE.

Our scholars have been told “no” their whole lives. What we do is give them back a “yes."

Yes to comfort. Yes to preference. Yes to dignity. Yes to being seen.

And baby, Alexis has taken that yes and run with it.
✅ She’s now interning on Capitol Hill.
✅ She’s thriving as an RA.
✅ She’s a voice for foster youth.
And she’s a living, breathing, shining, walking testimony of what happens when someone is loved consistently, completely, and without condition. She just shared her foster care story on a national podcast, and I’m not even gonna try to tell it for her. I want you to hear it in her own words:

Go listen to her full story here:
🎧 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6XYQBzRkKcBvUxeNlwL0l0?si=hX2Wf0TuSdCT-gBpHYBClw

We don’t operate under a “take what you get” model.

We ask, “What do YOU want?”

And then we deliver with dignity.

Our Mafia Miracle Makers and Miracles In Motion—that’s you, our donors and volunteers—you make that kind of care possible. Every sheet set. Every snack bin. Every shampoo bottle they recognize and love. That’s you.

Your monthly giving is what fuels these miracles.
It’s how we keep showing up again and again.
And now, we’re in the final 24 hours of this month’s Adopt A Scholar Week.

TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY!

We’ve wiped out wishlists before. Let’s do it again.

Whether you give $25 for a gift card or go big and cover a full need, you’re not just giving support. You’re giving freedom. You’re giving choice. You’re giving a scholar the gift of feeling seen.

💳 Join us now at MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar

💥 AND SPEAKING OF CHOICE…

Y’all. We are THREE WEEKS OUT from…

🎉 COUNTDOWN TO THEE HBCU BINGO EXPERIENCE 🎉
This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Bingo.

Back in 2020, when the pandemic shut down in-person graduations, we threw the most epic online party ever created for HBCUs.

Virtual HBCU Bingo was born, and over four Saturdays, we played with nearly 500 HBCU grads, raised over $1 million in cash and prizes, and made headlines for how fun, wild, and celebratory it was.

Now, it’s our turn to do it LIVE for the very first time.
🗓️ July 12 in Atlanta
💰 Thousands of dollars in prizes
🎁 Surprises. With a capital S.
🎲 Blackjack. Craps. Casino tables.
🎧 A Celebrity DJ I cannot WAIT to reveal

And big big vibes. Period.

And full transparency?

Shout out to my team who’s surviving all 8,472 of my ideas. But they know how I roll.

We’re making history again.

This is our first-ever in-person fundraiser. And we’re putting our whole Mafia Miracle Maker magic behind it.

​Get ready.

Grab your tickets at MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo

How ‘bout for this week’s Miracle Motivation, we draw from Alexis, who is the epitome of where you start is not where you have to end up.

She started life in foster care at the age of two. Navigated system after system. Reached adulthood still carrying the weight of abandonment and survival. And yet? She refused to let her trauma narrate her future.

Now she’s a Howard scholar. Has studied abroad. A Capitol Hill internship. And y’all, this scholar dared to not just survive the system, but redefine herself right in the middle of it.

That’s what reminded me this week: you don’t have to wait until things are perfect to start blooming. You don’t have to be fully healed to begin. You don’t have to have all the answers to make the next bold move.

Alexis did the inner work while walking out the outer journey. That’s what real audacity looks like.

So wherever you’re standing today, let her story remind us: your start may be in struggle, but your end can be in overflow.

That's it for this week. Please like, comment, and subscribe, and I'll see you next week.

​And don't forget...Adopt A Scholar Week ends tomorrow! Please help us wipe out the wishlists! MoveinDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar