Eric Mothes — The Dream That Refused To Die

Eric’s Dream that Wouldn’t Die

“I’d love to run the toughest YMCA in the toughest part of town.”  Eric Mothes’ Dream  Eric Mothes is on the edge of achieving his dream.  Eric needs help to cross the bridge from poverty to possibility and needs a financial cushion to get to the other side.

This will allow him to make a transition from an extraordinarily precarious place to be on his way.  We would like to ask you to donate a small amount to a person who will give much to the world. Eric has lived his life with help from few and almost no one “in his corner.”  But he still nourished a dream that refused to die.

Eric Graduates with a New Cheering Section 

Now when Eric graduates in May from Concordia University with a Bachelor’s degree and a strong GPA, he’ll have a huge crowd in the auditorium to cheer his achievement.  There will be the  Board of the Dream Come True Foundation. led by his Dream Come True Mentor, Randy Randolph, who has spent countless hours with Eric, mentoring, counseling, and problem solving.

Randy Randolph Became Eric’s Mentor and Friend 

Randy Randolph, Dream Come True Board member early on became Eric’s mentor and friend.  When Eric’s car didn’t work, Randy found a friend who repaired it free.  Eric had chronic health problems and couldn’t properly digest food, and Randy tapped Dr. Tom McHorse, distinguished Austin internist and Dream Come True volunteer,  who solved Eric’s issues when no one else had been able to. It has been a tough path for Eric.  Sports and faith kept him going and when life and circumstances kicked him down, his faith and athletics picked him back up.

When he graduated from Humble High he walked on as a tryout at LSU.  He was injured and never enrolled in school, came back to Humble and took the job he had left with the YMCA at Humble in the after school program. He worked later for the Humble Independent School District, specializing in dealing with “high risk kids.”  While he was working he was also attending Kingwood College and playing basketball. He had connections with Concordia from his high school days as a player.  He began playing basketball for Concordia, until injuries stopped his basketball career.

Eric’s Faith and Determination 

But nothing could stop his dream. The first two years he was at Concordia, Eric went home about every weekend to care for his mother who was at that time not working and living in a motel.  It was extremely stressful and it took a great deal of his energy and resources to care for her at a distance.

His grandmother finally took his mother to Florida to live with her, taking a great deal of stress off him and freeing him to work and study. At his lowest point, when it seemed the dream would finally die and that long-cherished hope of a college degree would be impossible to attain, Eric was introduced to the Dream Come True Foundation by Concordia University,  a school that does amazing things helping people achieve.  Little by little Eric developed confidence and hope.

He now wants to stay in Austin if he can.  He says this  is where all the good things that have happened have happened to him. Eric graduates from Concordia on May 4, with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and minor in Business.  He has a outstanding GPA and is a published poet. His long-term dream is to run a YMCA in a tough part of town, because Ys helped him so much as a youth and he wants to reach a hand back to help young people locked in poverty, as he once was. Please join all of us at Dream Come True by sending Eric your best wishes! And please help us create a smooth transition for him to complete independence and life in the middle class by contributing to the Dream Come True Foundation today.