Summer Plans Are Coming in Hot!

If you are new here... welcome to the Mafia Miracle Report. Every week I share what is happening inside Move-In Day Mafia, a nonprofit that supports foster care and unhoused college scholars at HBCUs with dorm room makeovers, care packages, move-in support, and community. I'm TeeJ, the founder and I'm glad you're here.

Whelp! It's summertime and school is out for our scholars. Which means some are couch surfing. Some are working regular jobs, grinding through summer the best they can. That is real and I never want to gloss over it.

But I also want you to see what else is happening. Because this week I sat down and looked at what some of our scholars are doing this summer and I couldn't be more proud.

These are kids who lost parents. Kids who slept in cars and behind stores. Kids who aged out of the system with nothing and nobody. Kids who showed up to their first day of college with everything they owned in a trash bag.

Look at what their summer looks like.

A.D. — Clark Atlanta University is heading to Cornell for a summer research program and already presenting his research! How cool is that?!

M.C. — Morehouse College just wrapped an internship with the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. Now he is turning around and doing research at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is building his resume and I'm here for all of it.

G.T. — Paul Quinn College just graduated and messed around and got hired full-time at Wells Fargo. And she is getting her first apartment. Adulthood looks good on her.

W.N. — Delaware State University left for a Walt Disney World internship in food service. Maybe she's learning to make Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy's favorite dishes.

D.J. — Spelman College landed an internship at Northwestern University in Chicago and I already know she's gonna kill it.

W.A. — Savannah State University started her internship at Prevention Point Philadelphia, a nonprofit that serves people who are unhoused and struggling with addiction. She knows what hard looks like up close. And now she is walking into someone else's hard story, ready to help.

A.J. — Fisk University had a couple of internship offers and decided on one all the way in San Jose, California.

L.M. — Lane College got accepted into the Summer Research STEM Academy. Maaaaan are kids are super scholars.

W.Z. — Prairie View A&M University has offers from both MD Anderson and UT Texas. At the time I'm writing this, she is still deciding. W.Z. has TWO options and is choosing between them. Read that again.

B.N. — Prairie View A&M University is studying abroad. In Barbados. Yeah...you read that right...Barbados.

H.K. — Florida A&M University is presenting her research at Florida State this summer. Getting paid to do it. Moving into her first apartment. And working on her driver's license before August. Three wins. At once.

S.D. — Prairie View A&M University has plans to go to Honduras with a friend's family. She is also learning day trading and studying for her life and health insurance license. I don't know when she sleeps.

D.F. — North Carolina A&T University is heading to Washington, D.C. with the National Foster Youth Institute. She will be shadowing a congressman. Working alongside delegates on advocacy for young people who have been in foster care. She is using her own story to change policy.

Mafia Miracle Makers...YOU did that! You are the wings beneath our kids' wings.

Every one of those names up there belongs to a kid who had every reason not to make it this far. Some lost parents to addiction. Some aged out of the system the day they turned 18 with nowhere to go. Some survived abuse that would have broken most adults. Some put themselves through high school while taking care of their younger siblings.

And you stayed in their corner. Through care packages and move-in days and $25 Visa cards so they could get to a job interview. Through every little thing that added up to a scholar who now has somewhere to be this summer.

This is where it went. And I'm grateful.

Every month when our scholars submit their care package requests, they have to finish a sentence.

They choose one:
“I’m grateful that…”
“I’m excited that…”
“I’m looking forward to…”

So we like to share some with you:

I was listening to the Diary of a CEO podcast recently. The guest was James Clear, who wrote Atomic Habits. And one thing he said went off like a sonic boom in my spirit.

"Consistency beats intensity every time."

I've been sitting with that ever since.

At 53, I am in a whole new phase of life. Menopause is real and it is an adjustment. My body has changed. The rules have changed. And one of the first things to go was my relationship with working out.

In my 20s and 30s, I was an intense workout person. I mean intense. Miss a day and I would beat myself up about it. That was my thing. That was my identity. Hard, consistent, punishing effort.

Except my body is telling me now that intensity is actually working against me. What served me then does not serve me now. And I had to learn to give myself grace around that.

So when James said that, something unlocked.

He talked about a marathon. You can sign up for one, train for months, cross that finish line, and feel incredible. That is intensity. But it is a moment, a BIG moment that deserves celebrating.

But!

It is the walk you take on a Tuesday morning when you do not feel like it. The workout you show up for in February when nobody is watching and nothing exciting is happening. The years of ordinary days that has nothing to do with any race or any event. No celebrating.

A marathon does not necessarily translate to healthy. You need the daily walk. The consistent workout. The habit that keeps going whether there is something to train for or not. That is what actually changes your body. That is where the real benefit lives.

Whatever you are building right now, please hear me. You do not have to be intense every single day. You just have to keep going. I spent years thinking that taking it easy meant I was falling behind. I know now it just means I'm still in the game.

Remember...consistency beat intensity every time!

Hug yourself for me and I'll see you next week.

In the meantime, like, comment, subscribe and share.

Plus, early bird tickets for this year's annual fundraiser, THEE HBCU BINGO XPERIENCE, are on sale. This Bougie Bingo goes down Saturday, July 11th live in Atlanta at the Morrow Center at 7pm. MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo