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Subscribe to RSSHow do you encourage your children to follow their dreams, even when you've fallen on hard times as a parent? Leo Garvey knows a lot about that. His daughter, Samantha, was named a semi-finalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for her marine biology research, even as their family was being forced into homelessness.
TODAY
The Garvey family motto: Stick together. From left: 13-year-old Kenny, dad Leo, 13-year-old Erika (Kenny's twin), 18-year-old Samantha, and mom Olga.
Samantha's story has propelled her into the national spotlight. On Tuesday, she attended the State of the Union speech, and on Wednesday she appeared on TODAY, with her proud papa watching from the wings.
"Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes to see her," Leo Garvey told TODAY Moms in a green-room interview. "I'm just so happy they are reaching their goals."
He and his family were evicted from their Long Island, NY home on New Year's Eve after falling behind on rent. They had to leave most of their possessions, and give up their dog to the pound. Samantha's mother, a nurse's assistant, was out of work for eight months after being injured in a car accident in February, and Leo couldn't make ends meet despite working 100-hour weeks as a cab driver. The family is now living in a homeless shelter as they wait for rent-subsidized county housing to become available. (A kind stranger stepped forward to take care of their dog until they can be reunited.)
Even as their finances got desperate, Leo says he and his wife always encouraged their children to study hard and pursue their goals.
"I was a high-school dropout, and I tell them, 'You don't want to end up like me, with a nowhere job,'" Leo said gruffly. "I like to see them do better, have better."
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Samantha told TODAY that her scientific research helped get her through the hard times; and she remembered her parents' message to her. "My parents, they always said, "Keep your head up. If you look down and you just mope, nothing's gonna come out of it.' And I always took that to heart. And I just kept a positive mentality."
Samantha has learned that she's not actually a finalist for the Intel competition, but just being a semi-finalist has expanded her horizons. She appeared on the "Ellen" show, where she received a $50,000 college scholarship from host Ellen Degeneres. On Wednesday's TODAY show, she proudly held on to her State of the Union speech copy autographed by President Obama.
But no one could be prouder than her dad, who says anyone who's ridden in his cab in the past 18 years has heard all about Samantha and his two other children, 13-year-old twins. Many more offers of financial help have come forward, but Leo says he has turned them down, saying all his family really needs is a house: "A lot of other people out there have it a lot harder. At least we're both still working. And we have each other, as a family."
After watching his daughter win national acclaim for her smarts and persistence, Leo is now looking forward to seeing her off to college -- well, maybe with some mixed feelings. To him, she'll always be his miracle baby: She was a 2-pound, 14-ounce preemie at birth.
"I remember the first day she got on the school bus to go to school," he said. "I started to tear up, and she turned around and said, 'Don't cry, daddy, I know karate.'"
For all the parents out there who are struggling to keep their heads above water and stay positive for their children, Leo has a message: "Never give up. Stay together as a family. It's tough sometimes, you're at each other because of all the financial stress, but stick together and keep encouraging your children. It does get better. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it will, but it does."
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I want to meet Samantha...
Kudos to her parents for keeping the girl focused and positive. They have an awful lot to be proud of.
These things have happened to so many people in todays society. It is a pleasure to hear the happy things that have happened to good people that have had such horrible things happen to them. I was also hit hard with this reccession. Not only did I lose my job, but I lost my 3 children, best friend and now ex-wife, home, and everything in it. Just as the reccession was hitting I started going through a divorce. My best friend left me, took our 3 children to another state, and filed for divorce. I started paying child support, and soon was laid-off. I have been without a steady job now since 2007, and I have fallen way behind on child support. There are no jobs in my field (Construction Surveying) so I tried to change my career, first Truck driving, which after I was 4 weeks into the course, I learned they were not hiring truck drivers in florida. I did a little more research and found out that web design was a fast moving career and was not hit by the reccession. I enrolled in a crash course and caught on to the many aspects of this career quickly. What I didn't realize after the course was finished, was that companies were only hiring people with a degree and this course left me jobless as well. I did manage to build and maintain a website, but it makes only enough money to keep it on the internet. There are many people that have fallen into my situation, and I continue to look for work both in the surveying field, and of course in the customer service field. But as time goes by my child support continues to fall behind, day after day. Currently the laws are set up that if you do not work, or can not find a job, you will pay a minimum child support, equal to the amount as if you are working a minimum wage job. But even that small monthly payment adds up, when you are not working a full time job, at even a minimum wage company.
These are model parents. They deserve great recognition.
There is something wrong in our society that a cab-driver who works overtime cannot maintain a home for his/her family. We need better wages for unskilled workers.
I know that I am so proud of her . I hope that this young lady goes far in science or anything else she might choose to go into.
:n))