Success Stories
Helping the Community Grow
Tom Almonte’s family came to this country from the Dominican Republic when he was a young boy. Tom wanted to fit in and feel normal. At Union High School he got the chance through four years of Yo Puedo, an enrichment program for Hispanic youth. Yo Puedo exposed the young man to new settings and experiences that showed him that he could do anything he wanted. In his junior year, Yo Puedo arranged for visits to some universities. These experiences took away his fears and helped Tom see beyond high school and a job. Recently, he gave the keynote address to the twentieth Yo Puedo graduating class. He told his story of wanting to run in a 25k marathon. His friends said no way can you do it. So he sought a group of people who had done it and asked to train with them. They agreed, so he trained and ran. As his training progressed, he wanted to improve his time to under two hours. None in his group had ever done it. So he found another group who had and trained with them. His message is to surround yourself with people who are better at something than you are and learn. Almonte goes on to say, “Success is not a destination, it is a journey. Anyone who got where they are today, did not get there alone, someone influenced them.” By any measure, Tom Almonte is an influential role model.
Tom’s story appears in 40 Stories of Courage and Hope: Celebrating 40 Years of Project Rehab, which was published in Fall 2008 in recognition of Project Rehab’s 40th anniversary. Click here to read more stories about our courageous clients and the treatment pioneers who helped make recovery possible.
This story is sponsored by Holland Litho