Lower Merion nonprofit celebrates half a century of providing underserved students access to educational opportunities

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Lamont Robinson recalled being 14 and the struggle of growing up in a drug-infested, dangerous public housing project on the west side of Chicago. He wanted out of the neighborhood and the city.

When Robinson didn’t get into the high school of his choice in his hometown, he said his vice principal told him about A Better Chance, a New York City–based program designed to help students from underserved communities access better education opportunities in private or suburban school systems.

So Robinson applied through the Urban League, took some aptitude tests and got accepted. He had a choice between Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Robinson chose ABC Lower Merion, because he was a fan of Philadelphia 76ers basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving.

“The program saved my life, being in Chicago and living in the situation that I did,” Robinson said. “We used to get shot at and chased all the time. It was transformational for me — if not for the program, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Today, Robinson, 53, is an executive at Netflix who oversees its small business program. He graduated from Lake Forest College, earned a master of business administration degree, and is now a board member with ABC Lower Merion.

For more than 50 years, ABC Lower Merion has helped young people of color like Robinson earn scholarships to get into college with a strict regimen that includes mentors, academic advisers and student housing — the ABC House — in the Ardmore section of Lower Merion Township, said John Emery, the nonprofit’s vice president and a board member.

In May, the organization celebrated its more than five decades of service with a gala event attended by about 150 people, including alumni, staff and volunteers, at the Merion Tribute House in Merion Station, Pennsylvania.

The gala featured food, drinks, a DJ and live music by the Wynnefield Jazz Collective. About $25,000 was raised through donations, a raffle and a silent auction. The proceeds will be used to renovate the ABC House, which is about a century old.

The Ardmore home, which can house eight program participants, allows the students to enroll in Lower Merion High School, one of the state’s top-rated schools, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The suburban Philadelphia home comes with prepared meals, a paid, live-in resident director and paid, live-in tutors who conduct mandatory study halls from 7 to 9 p.m. during school nights.

Emery said the volunteer academic advisers keep an eye on the students’ grades, attend parent-teacher conferences and attend school open-house nights.

“It’s a very structured environment to make sure they are achieving their full potential and academic success,” said Emery, who has been part of the program for 15 years.

During that time, Emery has served as an academic adviser to two young men. One graduated from New York University and the other graduated from Howard University. They are among the 100 young men who have completed the program in the Philadelphia area.

One of the local program’s well-known alums is Robert “Bobbito” Garcia, who hosted a hip-hip radio show in the ‘90s, as well as the NPR podcast “What’s Good with Stretch and Bobbito.”

About 95% of the participants graduated from college having earned full or nearly full scholarships and other financial aid, according to the program.

A well-known alumnus of the national program is prominent civil rights lawyer Deval Patrick, who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

One participant’s experience

Robinson, who grew up in Chicago before coming to Philly, said he struggled in the program because of cultural shock, being away from his family and, sometimes, not playing by the rules.

But the structured environment, including supervised tutoring and a family atmosphere, helped  him push through.

“Tutoring was needed. If it wasn’t for the tutoring I would have been kicked out of the program,” Robinson said. “I was just not where I needed to be academically. Even though it was a struggle to have a study hall every night, a great benefit came from that.”

“I loved the food and having a cook. It was another way to remain grounded. You are still a part of a family by having home-cooked meals,” Robinson said. “Sitting at a table [with others] forced us to have conversations to get to know each other.”

The experience at Lower Merion was the first time Robinson had met anyone outside the African American community he grew up within.

“The house was great because it exposed me to different cultures,’’ Robinson said. “It was great being around individuals that I could learn from in terms of their cultures. But I saw quickly that I was behind academically.”

Another important part of the program’s support mechanism, Emery said, is each student is assigned a host family.

Host families usually visit a student once a month and attend sports or other extracurricular activities.

“These relationships often persist years afterwards,” Emery said.

Robinson agreed.

“I was blessed in my second year to have a host family, Preston and Pat Scott,” Robinson said. “Pat Scott was like a mother to me. It gave me a chance to be in a home that was more grounded than I was used to.”

Some students, he said, would move in with their host families during the summer if they had no place to go.

“It gives you additional folks that you know that love you genuinely and support you because it is tough being away from home,” Robinson said. “To have a family structure that you can depend on was important to us. For me, it gave me a family that supported me for the rest of my life. They came to my wedding and there were other events in my life.”

It’s been ‘great,’ says current student

Seth Akuaku, 17, of Newark, New Jersey, is in his junior year at Lower Merion High School and plays on the school’s track team part-time. He joined ABC Lower Merion three years ago.

“My experience at ABC has been really impactful, in terms of opportunity. At school, I’ve been exposed to an engineering program, the National Society of Black Engineers,” he said. “I want to go to school for engineering, something like design manufacturing.”

“ABC has given me the opportunity to connect with people — networking opportunities,” Akuaku said. For example, he said, he spoke with past alumni about career options at the program’s recent celebration.

Kechan Miller, 17, of Washington, D.C., plays football for Lower Merion and has received a few scholarship possibilities.

“My time here has been great,” he said. “When I first got here, it’s different from D.C., so it was a cultural shock. But everybody welcomed me with open arms. Everybody helps you with whatever you need.”

When Miller needs to attend football programs outside of the immediate area, a group of neighbors volunteer to drive him. Playing football helped him meet people and fit in, he said.

“There are a lot of clubs for whatever you want to do,” Miller said. “You can always find a group to hang out with or something that interests you.”

Meno Dwyer, 16, of East Orange, New Jersey, is in the Boy Scouts and working toward his Eagle Scout merit badge, the highest scout honor. He also plays baseball for Lower Merion.

“My experience at Lower Merion High School and ABC has been tremendous,” Dwyer said.

Dwyer said he wants to study business in college and has an interest in real estate. He plans to get his real estate license and maybe open his own business one day.

“The support when I came here … I was welcomed by the community,” Dwyer said.  “I love being here and this program has given me an opportunity to spread my wings and blossom into the person I am today.”

It helped him, he said, “to mature, be independent and self-reliant.”