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Zeitlin had discovered that even the most destitute communities had successful outliers: families that had figured out a way to raise healthy children despite their bleak circumstances. Zeitlin called these individuals “positive deviants”—individuals or families who somehow managed to deviate from the health norms of the community in a good way.

I am well aware now that all of these actions had more to do with charity than justice—that they would probably now fall under the general rubric of “white savior complex.” And I’m aware that those are sound cautions. When we were at Frogmore, our college acceptance letters were arriving back home; when we got off the bus we went home to envelopes

They were expected to accomplish nothing, so they could try anything. Audacity beckoned. “You ever heard of the Mountain Masochist?”

persistence and perseverance were fundamental parts of her nature. She would often say, “Whenever someone says you can’t do something, make it your job to prove them wrong.”

Instead of academic success, Mott Haven’s main priority is on creating a community within their school—a place for kids to feel safe and to have a stable, loving, family-like structure they might not have at home.