What’s Your Story?

Someone, somewhere in your family line, broke out of poverty, an accomplishment that changes the direction of an entire family tree. Almost 1,000 young people in eight cities are working hard to accomplish a similar feat for their families this year through a Samaritan Scholarship with us. They have reason to be hopeful: More than 200 Samaritan Scholars who have graduated from college or trade school since 2019 are earning almost three times more than their households of our current scholars. 

Would you please consider sharing your story with me by emailing info@intsam.org? I’m curious to hear:

• Who was the person or couple in your family tree who made a significant movement from being extremely poor to living comfortably, and how did they do it?
• What is the one quality that stands out to you about them that was most helpful in their struggle to break out of poverty?

If you are that person in your family, we want to hear that too.

Tomes have been written on the root causes of poverty, but we want to focus a little bit more intentionally in the year ahead on the traits that lead to prosperity as well. We are asking for your help.

Our team leaders and I are working on a presentation to discuss with our board of trustees during our annual retreat, held on February 11th this year, about how we can most strategically accomplish our mission of helping people break the chains of poverty. The ideas and strategies we generate over the next month will shape our direction for the year. 

Please help enhance our base of knowledge by writing a paragraph or two in response to the questions above. I’m eager to hear your story!

International Samaritan is a Christ-centered organization built on Catholic Social Teaching. Our mission is to walk hand-in-hand with people who live and work in the garbage dumps of developing nations to help them break out of poverty.

We provide holistic scholarships for students from kindergarten through college, and we’re currently supporting nearly 1,000 scholars in Central America, the Caribbean, and East Africa.

Would your church or school group like to partner and travel with us? Learn about our Learn, Serve, Grow program.

Empower our scholars to change their lives. Become a monthly supporter.

Mike Tenbusch, President

Mike joined International Samaritan in 2018 after two decades of leading social change in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He’s a University of Michigan Law grad and author of The Jonathan Effect: Helping Kids and Schools Win the Battle Against Poverty. He and his wife, Maritza, have three children who keep them young.