We have drawn inspiration from many areas in our life to create SPIRITNYS. Primarily, we are inspired by our parents, Harold and Helen Thompson, and Florence and Maurice Keefe, born and raised in the city of Rochester, New York. Our parents, despite being born into very modest circumstances, were models of selflessness and kindness. We strive to live out their legacy of supporting others, especially through education. In 1996 we began to assist students who have unique challenges in attending college in Rochester.

However, Rochester’s latest high school graduation rate for homeless students is 40%. Learning this forced us to realize that it is not just college students, but high school students that are facing unique challenges. Rochester holds a special place in our hearts, as our hometown. We attended the local schools, and we want to see Rochester students thrive. Therefore in 2020 we established SPIRITNYS because we believe SPIRITNYS can improve the life trajectory of many high school students.

Secondly, SPIRITNYS is inspired by the work of Youth On Their Own (YOTO), a charity we contribute to in Tucson Arizona, where we reside. YOTO has operated for ~40 years and has enabled many students to graduate from high school. This year, YOTO is supporting a caseload of 1800 students. Historically, 82-85% of YOTO students achieve graduation. Comparatively, the national average for homeless student graduation is 60%, and 40% in Rochester.

We hope to build on our experience, to provide a valuable opportunity in the Rochester area just as YOTO has in Tucson. We believe our efforts in Rochester will bring out those same charitable virtues from the people in this community. Rochester has always been noted for its philanthropic activities and we believe it will embrace the mission of SPIRITNYS.

We have committed to funding SPIRITNYS In Rochester for three years to demonstrate the benefits of our SPIRITNYS  program while building community support and demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach. After three years the success of the charity will be sustained by the community itself through private donations and grants. Our vision is that SPIRITNYS will be a seed organization and our efforts will lead to building chapters in other communities.

Finally, we are grateful to our family members: children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews, and other family friends. We continue to be inspired by their ability to give unstintingly of their time, talent, energy, and support to make this happen. It has been an amazing, delightful, and humbling process.