Advantage Center Angels: Bibi's Story
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At CommonBond’s Eleventh Annual GrandeGala, former resident Bibi Abdalla was honored with the Joe Errigo Advantage Award. Now a college graduate and a fellow with a well-respected public policy agency, Bibi spoke at the gala about how her CommonBond home and supportive Advantage Services helped. |
"Most of us believe the result of our actions determine the scope of our successes. Thus, we never take a moment to look back, reflect on our path and think about the individuals that help us build the foundations to our success.
These individuals that come along our path lift us up when we are down, whisper words of inspiration when our spirit falls and reach out with their hands when we are drowning. These individuals are sometimes friends, sometimes family and sometimes strangers. They are unrecognizable because they don’t carry wings. They come in all forms and shapes, sometime tasteful and sometimes bitter, sometimes silent, sometimes with headache and other times invisible. Tonight my story is about these individuals, the hidden angels that built my steps up to heavens.
The harsh reality of immigration
When we were coming to America, we thought we were going to heaven. We believed that our pain and struggles would vanish once we got there. We discovered that this was a delusion once we reached America. Landing here did not automatically erase our problems, but instead created new ones. As new settlers, we were confronted with new problems. We had to start from scratch. My mother had to learn a new language and in the meantime, she depended on me to bear more responsibilities. When I came to American, this was my reality. While my mother played catch up in the game of surviving in America, I had to manage the house and raise my younger siblings.
My story is not new. Many immigrant children face the same struggles when they come to this country. They are forced to parent themselves because their parents are busy trying to make ends meet or don’t understand the ways and culture in which their children are growing up. Confused and helpless, many immigrant children lose their way because they don’t receive adequate support from their parents.
Finding a second mother in the Advantage Center
I was lucky. When I lost my mother to struggles formed by our new condition, I found another mother in the Advantage Center. It was through this center that I found my American mother. This Advantage Center mother has helped me pass though the struggles I encountered adjusting to my new environment. She helped me see the world beyond which I was situated. She implanted dreams in my heart and set the bar high. The Advantage Center gave me a ladder to climb and in the process, she held my hand. She was the first to teach me about college. I remember when she took me to my first college tutor field trip in Macalester College and then to the U of M. It was the Advantage Centers that helped me put together my college application, helped me with my homework, talk to me about sex and drugs, find me my first job and introduced me to people to mentor me and inspire me.
Success through support
When I look back and ask myself what the difference was between me and the other immigrant children that I encountered who lost their way, it was the support I found in the Advantage Center that made me successful. I found a second mother there. She nurtured me and helped me find the America, the heaven we once dream about. We are not there yet, but now we know the America we dreamed about, the land of paradise can be reached with hard work. Some day my kids will live in the America dream. I know this because I am working on it.
I would not be standing here today or would have had this opportunity if it was not the angels, the individuals that walked in though doors of Skyline Tower advantage center. The actions of these people have made a great impact in my live. The people I met there have shaped and formed who I am today. It is because of them that I have managed to finished high school, manage to go to college, stay away from trouble. This is why it is not me that should have the honor tonight but the individuals that come along my path that helped me build the ladder to my success.
So thank you for the Advantage Center and the countless angels that walked in though its door who reached out and became the parent I did not have at home. I am so grateful to the inventors of the Advantage Center. "
-Bibi Abdalla, former resident of CommonBond in St. Paul
Read the next Resident Voice: The Beginnings of a Community Leader: Wendy's Story
Learn more about Skyline Tower, the affordable housing community that Bibi called home.
