Help me continue to help kids in need!

Hello!
My name is Emily and I am a 27 year-old full-time masters student and full-time case manager at a non-profit agency. I am starting my second semester in my masters program - Child and Family Therapy (MFT), with a specialization in Latina/o Families and I love it. After working at numerous non-profits doing counseling and case management, I feel so blessed to know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life - I have really found my calling!
I received my Bachelor's Degree in Chicana/o Studies and although I wasn't sure exactly what career I was going to pursue, I knew it was going to be one that helped people in the community who were underserved. I substitute taught for a bit, until getting a job as a counselor at a group home for pregnant and parenting teen girls. I knew after the first week I was hired that I was going to need to pursue a career as a therapist, helping kids and their families. I saw so many girls on probation and in foster care who were falling through the cracks and had no one to help advocate for them - it ate me up inside. That's when I looked for the job I have currently as a case manager, where I could not only counsel kids and their families, but also advocate for them at school, at court and wherever else they might need me.
I have never felt so rewarded. I look forward to going to work everyday. The kids and families that I work with keep me so motivated. Just to give you an idea of what I do – my client are either in foster care or probation and have experienced severe trauma. I work in the child’s home in order to assist their families learn new ways to understand them. We are a strength-based program and we work to empower families to advocate for themselves and be free of the many systems in their lives.
I was so happy to be accepted into the masters program that I am in. There are only 18 people accepted per year and I was one of them! It is extremely hard to balance work and school full time, but I have always had to work to support myself since the age of 15 so I am used to it!

I am humbly asking for your help in order to purchase books and pay for other school costs. As you well know, non-profits don't exactly pay well and my greatest fear is that I will have to drop out of school if I run out of money. This happened to me in undergraduate. I was forced to drop out due to financial hardship and it took me years of saving to return and finish my BA. I worry constantly that this is going to happen again.


I will leave you with a narrative that one of my professors gave me at the end of last semester. I was really touched by how much she saw in me and hope that it will give you an idea of how serious I am about what I do.

"Emiiy is highly intelligent and very insightful. She deftly integrated not only the course readings but her professional work experience as well as her personal experience in therapy into her overall learning. Her reflection papers were consistently good. She is articulate, open to the process, integrating what she is reading and learning and able to clearly state what she feels and thinks. It was a pleasure having her in class. I appreciate wit and humor especially in this profession. I believe Emily understands what a gift it is when you can use your wit and humor in one's clinical practice--with clients and peers. She is truly gifted and I am especially looking forward to calling Emily my colleague."