 Well good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you. My name is Rick Nodiaga and I am the President-CEO of Avonce, Incorporated Unlocking America's Potential. On behalf of Avonce's National Board of Directors, our Avonce team across the country and the thousands of Avonce parents and children we have had the privilege to serve. We welcome you here to the National Office of Avonce here in downtown San Antonio, Texas. This press conference for those of you that are unaware is being streamed across the country. To our Avonce friends and family on the east coast, we're starting to get some of your weather here in San Antonio today. And to our friends and families on the west coast, well enjoy the nice weather that you're experiencing. Today marks another historic day in Avonce's history. For 40 years Avonce has administered its signature-based parent-child education program, a two-generation model that instructs that the parent is the first teacher and the home is the first classroom. Today we are sharing the results of a longitudinal impact study entitled Avonce, A Tenure Look at Impact, written by Dr. Felix Montes and the team of the nationally renowned Interdevelopmental Research Association, or ETHRA. And we want to also thank Roy Johnson, also with ETHRA team for being here and joining us. We are also joined by some of the Avonce graduates that are in the audience and research participants whom you will hear from in a moment. One of our mothers and her young adult teenage daughter who will be sharing some information with you, their story, and be available for questions in a moment. But before I introduce Dr. Montes to explain this study, let me give you the bottom line upfront as we like to say in the military. And that is Avonce works. This study further amplifies that two generation models like Avonce are the decisive point to breaking the cycles of poverty. It saves money and it ensures that our national and international competitiveness is still relevant and strong. We believe that early intervention is the best investment we can make in America's future by giving each child, no matter their circumstance, the start they deserve so that they are school ready, ready to learn with supportive parents who understand their developmental needs. Avonce has been the boots on the ground in this social space for 40 years. Since our humble beginnings here with our San Antonio team at the Mirasol Housing Project in San Antonio that have done a phenomenal job, today we have chapters across Texas and partners administering our parent child education program in seven states to reach thousand more families and children every year. When parents graduate from our nine month curriculum, they are transformed. They become role models for their children, instilling in them the value of education and empowering them to reach their goals. Through years of anecdotal evidence, success stories we see every day that walk through our doors. We've heard from wonderful families at all of our sites. We know our program works, but we, like many others around the country, were always asked, prove it. In parental engagement, early education, and intervention, the national dialogue is about proof and quality. We contracted nationally renowned researchers, Ithra, to conduct a study to see where our families are now. They checked in on hundreds of families, seven to 10 years after they completed the program to assess if Avonce led to real changes in the trajectory of their families. The results are astonishing. Look around this room and stand up if you're an Avonce graduate. We'd like to honor you today because this report is in your honor. Thank you so much for joining us and being here with us. These mothers, these mothers have taken great strides within our ranks and what was discovered through the study is that we have teachers and nurses and college students and some who have come back to work with Avonce to help mothers in similar situations. I also want to thank all of our staff that contributed to this study and in supporting the efforts to get this work done. The phenomenal job. We have a Avonce mother graduate who will act as a spokesperson today to tell her story, but they will be available as well to ask questions afterwards. So now it is my pleasure to introduce the author of this fine work, Dr. Felix Montes, author of Avonce, A Ten-Year Look at Impact. Dr. Montes. I appreciate the nice introduction, Mr. Noriega. Thank you very much. It is sometimes the unexpected findings that is the most interesting ones. We knew that we wanted to compare the effect that Avonce had on the mothers that have participated in the program more than ten years ago and we found those effects. We found that in fact, as Mr. Noriega said, the effects are amazing, but what I was not anticipating really was the effect that Avonce had on the children, on the children of those mothers who participated in the program. First of all, 93% of those children were school ready when they entered Avonce. Now what does that mean? Why is that so important? Because there is a body of the literature that tells us that there is a significant number of children who entered a school not being ready. For example, Lisa Klein from the Harvard Family Research Center in 2004, indicating the following. Depending on what's being assessed, between 25 and 60% of children are not ready to begin kindergarten. Between 25 and 60%, you can average that to about 40% of children not being ready. That means that 60% of them are ready. Compare that to the 93% that we found for Avonce. That's amazing. That's incredible, really, because she's thinking about the whole country. She's not even thinking about poor children. That's amazing. Every time that I see this, I get all emotional. Why is school readiness so important in addition to that? Because the future of these children really depends on them being ready to enter school. There is a strong relationship between school readiness and staying in school. And in fact, our study in Avonce shows that 90% of these children stay in school 10 years later. And why is that important? Well, IDRED have been conducting attrition. In fact, Roy Johnson is here, and he has been the one heading that study. For 28 years, we have been conducting an attrition study in the whole state of Texas, and we found that only 67% of Hispanic children stay in school to complete high school. Now compare that to 90% that we found for the Avonce children. That's amazing. Okay? Even for all children, 75% of them, according to our study, stayed to the end of the high school. Well, in the case of Avonce children, it was 90%. So that's to me outstanding. So I mentioned at the beginning that we found a very interesting effect, very strong effect of the protein on the models. Before I move on, let me share with you a little bit of what a typical Avonce model is. Okay? A typical Avonce of participants who participate in the program. She is Hispanic. She is a young model less than three years old, who is Hispanic, 98% of them are Hispanic. Economically distressed, about 40%. Thank you very much. About 40% earn less than $20,000 a year, and she has very low formal education. More than 60% of them did not complete high school. So this is the background against which I want you to see these findings. And here are the findings. There was a 216% increase in the number of mothers with high education degrees. Now, this is comparing the situation at the beginning when they went to Avonce for health and 10 years later. During that time span, there was an increase in higher education degrees of 216%. Isn't that amazing? That is incredible. Okay? Second, there was a 127% increase in the number of mothers who gained employment. And I was mentioning this before in the interview. And it reminds me that during these 10 years, the employment situation in the whole country wasn't pretty, right? While the actual unemployment was increasing, for this mother, they were actually finding jobs. Why? Because of all of the support that they gained from Avonce more than 10 years ago. All these skills, communication skills that they earned in Avonce, the technical skills in doing things, the education that they gained and so forth, 127% increase in employment. And finally, there was a 148% increase in the number of Avonce family who owned their home. 143% increase on the number of families who owned their home. Again, during the time when many families were losing home, these families were actually buying their own home. 143% of them. So that's, to me, that's amazing. That's incredible. So these are some of the findings that I want to highlight in this intervention. And we have produced a 150-page report that will be available soon. Before leaving, let me just mention one last thought. One of the questions that we asked these mothers in the interview that we conducted to complete the study was, what was the best thing Avonce did for you? What was the best thing Avonce did for you? And here is another thing that they said. Avonce helped me become a better mother, become a role model for my children and become an advocate for my children and other children in the school and in the community. So this mother went from being on the age of society to become an active participant in society, in the school and in their community. And they mentioned that that was due to Avonce, the Avonce help that they received that were able to improve their communication with both their children and their husband, which allowed them, in many cases, to save their families from likely dissolution. And that was, to me, that was that's amazing. Because Avonce provides not only that formal training about raising children and so forth, but also advice about keeping the family together, counseling and all of that. And that's amazing. That's incredible. Thank you very much. Thank you Dr. Montes. And now we will hear from Ms. Elizabeth Reyes, who is currently a coordinator of Early Head Start here in San Antonio. In addition, we're really pleased and we had to wait just a little while before we got this press conference going because school had to let out so that we could have her daughter, Emily Huerta, be here with us as well, who we're so proud of because she was just sharing with me her future goals and aspirations and the wonderful university that she's planning on attending. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce Ms. Elizabeth Reyes. Good afternoon. I am Avonce's parent and I would like to think that I think that, you know, I am where I am because Avonce believed in me. And that's something that I've always said. I was 18 when I had my daughter, Emily, at the time I did not have the family support that I wanted. So my biggest concern was how am I supposed to be a mom and what am I supposed to do? I didn't know what I needed to do, but I knew that I didn't want to happen. So when I was living in the housing projects, Avonce went and knocked on my door and invited me to their nine month program. At first I was reluctant. I don't want to go. I don't know these people. But Avonce was very persistent. They came quite a few times before I decided to just give it a shot. And I think the first day that I walked in those doors, I thought to myself, wow, this is awesome. There was other mothers just like me. They were welcoming and they made us feel like the parents feel that, wow, we were important. What Avonce had taught me was that I was my child's first teacher. You know, it's not when they enter preschool or first grade or, you know, it learning begins at home. The home is the first classroom and the parent is the first teacher. So I did the nine month program. Ms. Gonzalez was my parent educator. After I finished that program, I kind of didn't want to leave Avonce. You know, I kind of was like, can I do it again? Or what's next? Because it was great. You know, I made friends with other parents. I learned so much about child development, child health and development. And also about the community. You know, the third hour speakers that came in were beneficial to me and my household. I was not working. I had never worked before. I had barely made my way through high school and graduated. And I didn't think that now being a mom, I was going to be able to do anything but stay home, as my mom did with myself and my siblings. But after that, you know, Avonce talked to me about phase two and going into college. And, you know, at first I said, well, I can't, I was, my bond with Emily was very strong. So my thing was I come here because I know she's down the hall. You know, I know she's downstairs. But I don't think I can leave her in an actual center. But after, you know, Avonce is very persuasive. So after a while, I did enroll at SAC. And it took me a while. It took me about three years to obtain my associates along the way. I had two more children. And during that time, Avonce said, well, you know, we have phase two and we can provide you child care support. And so I was blessed enough for all three of my children to be in a child care, an Avonce child care setting. They learned so much. And when they went to school, they were so ready. You know, of course, I was doing my part at home as well. But after I got my degree, my associates degree, I thought to myself, wow, now I can get a job. Now I can work. And I went to Avonce. And I said, you know, I want to work here. I want to do what you guys did for me. I want to be able to do for others. So I started working at the Carmen Picurte Center in the infant room as an infant teacher. I loved it. I got to work with the teachers that had provided care to my own children. So it was awesome being on the other side of the spectrum, you know. And I was there for about a year. After that, I moved to the Early Head Start home-based program. And I was a home educator. That was awesome, you know, working with families one-on-one, giving them support, doing that, being that person that Avonce was to me, I was now being able to go out and give that back. So I've been with Avonce for about 10 years. February 2nd will be 10 years with Avonce. My first real job, and I'm still here. And along the way, I've learned so much. Right now, back in December, I crossed the stage with my bachelor's. So now, not only do I have my associates, but I obtained my bachelor's degree. And I want to say, you know, through the years, I was no longer a parent. I guess once you're an Avonce parent, you're always an Avonce parent. So, you know, my colleagues, my co-workers would tell me, you need to go back to school. You need to go back to school. When are you going back to school? What about your bachelor's? What about your bachelor's? And it was like, wow. You know, I didn't get the push from my family. I am the first in my family to have a degree. My parents did not graduate from high school. My mom never worked, you know, a day in her life. So for me to do this was totally the oldest of my siblings. So not only was I setting a standard for myself, I was also setting a standard for my siblings. So now, I do have a younger brother that I raised from the time he was 12. He went and did four years in the Navy. And now he's back and he's working, he's at Northwest Vista working on his business degree. So when he did, when I walked the stage that day, you know, he did, he was there. And he told me that because of me, you know, it made him want to pursue his education. So I know that I'm impacting someone, you know, and now with Emily, who is the Avonce child, she's a junior at Lanier High School down the street from here. She has been my AB honor roll student, my overachiever, my busy B. And I can't be any prouder, you know, I'm so proud of her. We're looking forward to the spring because we're going to be visiting and touring college campuses. I want to say almost every single day we get invited in the mail and, you know, so we're keeping our options open. As for her, as well as for my two younger ones, you know, I want them to be able to go farther than I have. And I think that I want to instill that value in me, you know, and I have no doubt she's going to go on and prosper. But I think, you know, walking into that building that one day helped me to be where I'm at right now and become who I am right now. We've provided water and Kleenex, which is part of our culture with Avonce. And so now it's my honor to introduce our Avonce daughter, Emily, what? You want to come up and say a few words, Emily? Come on. When you're in the governor of Texas, you're going to have to do this. I remember singing the cleanup song. Yeah, I can't really talk. I have so many plans. Please talk. I'm sorry. It's okay. She does have lots of plans. She is currently a magnet student at Lanier High School, so she's taking business and banking classes. But for her first two years of high school, she was also a police explorer. So she did a little bit of the criminal justice as well. She is on the varsity volleyball team. So she's been doing that since freshman year. She's also placed for an outside league top gun volleyball, along with all of her volunteer services that she's done. During the summer, she was a what are they called? Team youth leader, a junior volunteer for the inner city development program, which is down the street, and they provide a recreation services during the summer. So she spent her summer helping there with the children. On various occasions, she has come and volunteered for our to help in the childcare center here. When we have our meetings or special events, Dia de la Familia, special events like that. So right now, what we're working on is scholarship applications and building her educational resume so that we can send that out as well. I think she's what rank are you right now in class 17 17 out of 415 415. And what university do you want to go to? The University of Northern Iowa. She wants to go far away. But we are we will be going and visiting a few universities this spring so that she can get a feel of what a campus is like and and things like that. There is a program with the University of Austin where we're we're trying to get her in so that she can go stay for a few days to see how she likes that. So it's exciting. I'm worried. I'm scared. But more than anything, I'm proud and I know that she's going to do well. Well, you can see now why it's because of Elizabeth and Emily that were blessed to be able to work for an avance that actually transforms lives and has such an impact. That's meaningful. It's the pebble in the pond in terms of not just family but then community and family engagement. And so we're honored to be able to do the work we do we get up every day so that you know Emily when you if you get a when you get your job that you're going to get and be super successful. If you get up every day and you love what you do, you never have to work another day in your life. And so we at Avance all of our team were extremely blessed to be able to be agents of a intervention that really makes a difference in communities and in our state and in our country. So with that, I'm going to pass it over to Dr Montes or to Emily or to Elizabeth for any questions from the press or from anyone that might have some particular questions about the study. Again, on behalf of our board of directors and all of our team, we like to again thank either for their commitment and it's wonderful piece of work. Dr Montes for for what you've been able to capture and what oftentimes we've tried to communicate anecdotally. But you've really been able to quantify that particular impact with a with a good portion of our of our families. And so thank you again. So I will stop there. If there are any questions, you might have any questions? I was a little worried this year. I was the only one with her all the time. So my part of the work for me was separated. And having to be her, you know, with strangers at the time, they were strangers. So that I could go to class. But after real seeing what the program was, I was okay with it. It was just like her second world. When I was going to school for my associates, she was a little older, she was a radio over copper. So it was awesome, you know, we passed by my school, my school, you know, she would see the, the, the lunch in the classroom that she was super excited. So at times she made one. And to me, that was like, that was their home to you. If they would not want to stay or they would have separation anxiety, I think it would be hard for me. But because they were so welcome and enjoyed going in made of ice. Are there any other questions? Any questions at all? Well, again, we want to thank everyone for coming out on this on this challenging day with the weather that's blowing in. And the thank our friends from the East Coast that sent us this weather. But again, we, we here at Avonso are extremely privileged and honored to be able to do this work and make this kind of contribution as part of our collective legacy. We want to our mission as we celebrate our next generation, the next 40 years, as as we're celebrating our 40 year anniversary is to be able to make a broader impact as you've witnessed today, and to be able to serve more families and children. So thank you all again for coming out today. And stay tuned for for further reports and further evidence that we're making a difference. And then Avonso works. Thank you very much.