When Adra joined Live & Learn in Fall 2023, she wasn’t sure what her future could realistically look like. She had moved more than ten times growing up, dropped out of high school at 17, and came from a family without a history of college, driving, or long-term career planning. While her parents wanted better for her, they didn’t have the experience or confidence to guide her through those next steps.

By the time Adra entered adulthood, she describes feeling unstructured and overwhelmed, unsure how to move forward or where to begin. College felt especially risky after having already broken trust once by leaving high school early. She knew she needed guidance, but didn’t yet know what kind.

That changed when Adra was referred to Live & Learn through Year Up United.

From the start, Live & Learn offered something Adra hadn’t experienced before: long-term, all-encompassing support. Rather than focusing on just one area of her life, the program helped her build structure, confidence, and accountability across education, career, and personal development.

Through consistent one-on-one support with her client coordinator, Adra began setting clear goals and timelines. When she struggled to move forward on her own, someone was there to help her break goals into manageable steps and follow through. When transportation or finances became barriers, Live & Learn adjusted, offering virtual programming and ensuring she had access to materials, including mailing her a workbook so she could fully participate in a trauma-informed workshop series.

That workshop, Untangled, helped Adra recognize emotional triggers and patterns of self-sabotage rooted in instability. For the first time, she had tools to pause, reflect, and respond intentionally rather than acting on impulse. Over time, she began to see herself not as someone “behind,” but as someone capable of building a future on her own terms.

With encouragement and accountability from her Live & Learn team, Adra achieved milestones she had never seen modeled before. She earned her driver’s permit in 2023 and her driver’s license at the end of 2024. She is currently pursuing an associate’s degree, expected to be completed in 2027. In 2025, she earned her Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) certification and now works in autism therapy. Looking ahead, Adra hopes to become a social worker so she can support others navigating challenges similar to her own.

Perhaps just as important as these accomplishments is the internal shift Adra describes. She no longer frames her life as “cursed,” even jokingly. She is actively working to replace negative self-talk with intention and optimism, grounded in the belief that her life is just beginning.

Adra is clear that this progress was not inevitable. Without Live & Learn, she believes she would still be struggling to find the courage, structure, and confidence to move forward. The difference was not simply encouragement, but consistent, relationship-centered support that stayed with her as she learned how to initiate change for herself.

Adra’s story reflects what Live & Learn exists to do: provide women with the tools, accountability, and long-term commitment needed to break generational cycles and build stable, independent futures. When women are supported in this way, transformation becomes possible—not by chance, but by design.