Nevil Carling is a trans youth with a learning disability and a background of Adverse Childhood Experiences who needs financial help to attend college and pursue his dream of becoming an undertaker. Raised by a single mother with mental health challenges, Nevil was taken out of school in 10th grade and was only able to graduate from high school when he became estranged from his mother at age 20. This spring Nevil was accepted into SUNY Canton's Mortuary Science program, a well regarded four year BA program. Canton's Mortuary Science graduates have a 100% job placement rate (for those willing to relocate) with a median income of $74,000. Nevil's dream is to eventually own his own funeral home that helps low-income people have beautiful burriels. The funeral industry is facing an aging workforce and a significant shortage of professionals, particularly funeral directors. More than 60% of funeral directors nationwide are expected to retire within the next five years, contributing to a critical shortage of workers according to the National Funeral Directors Association. Nevil received the maximum awards for state and federal financial aid and student loans, as well as aid from the EOP program, but he is still short $5,000 per year for cost of attendance. This shortfall is typically the responsibility of the student's parents but since Nevil's parents are not in his life in a meaningful way, we are turning to the community for help. Read more about Nevil's story below:

Nevil Carling's Autobiography

My family and personal background have been an interesting experience. I was raised by my single mother with my older half brother and plenty of help from my grandparents. I moved around to 4 different schools before graduating. My mother changed her occupation many times before becoming a trucker. As a long haul trucker she would be

gone for weeks and I would be home alone most of the time. Additionally CPS was involved at various times during my childhood dealing with me and my brother and my mom. At age 20 I became estranged from my mother. My grandparents recently passed away and I am no longer in contact with my mother and half brother. Since I left

my mother, I have had to make a lot of changes in my life and along the way I had many friends that supported me to keep going, my friends have become my new family. In my experience I enjoyed school until I got to second grade when I was held back. When I was held back I felt slightly humiliated by the fact all of my friends had moved on without me and now I had to deal with a teacher who didn't like me. I was officially diagnosed with dyslexia and given a 504. Over the course of the next few years I was reluctant to learn but able to build my mindset so that by the time I got to 7th grade I no longer needed reading assistance. We moved again in 8th grade and in that school I enjoyed Advanced Arts Studio and moved up in my science classes and also enjoyed the choir. Towards the end of my 10th grade year my brother had made a threat to shoot me and my friends and took my phone away, leading me to have a mental breakdown in school that had prompted CPS to get involved. This led to my mother becoming

paranoid and pulling me out of school. I had been staying with my friends to finish that year at school and to stay away from my brother. By the time summer arrived, I was back to living with my mother but she wouldn't allow me to go back to school. I had tried to get her to get me into online schooling with no success.. By the time I was 19 I was

living in my mother’s camper, alone and with no transportation and having not finished my high school or working. I still wanted to complete my education but my mother was trying to move me to a different state. The day I turned 20 I left for good. I moved in with

a friend who helped me get back into high school. Up until my experience after New Roots Charter School, I had been unmotivated to learn and study. Now I became motivated because I imagined a better future for myself. Art is a huge part of my life. It always had been with my grandmother being an art teacher for many years. Art became my therapy and I started to express my emotions with my art. I also enjoyed singing and did many sports growing up. My biggest

accomplishment was getting myself back into highschool to finish 2 years in 1. My biggest challenge is dyslexia- reading and writing can be difficult but I try my best to push forward. My biggest academic struggles have always been Math and English.

What inspired me to further my education was my grandfather's death. I had seen how death had affected those around me and I wanted to possibly help. My goal now in college is to get a degree in Mortuary Science. With my degree in Mortuary Science I want to be able to open a morgue one day in order to help those with lower incomes still

be able to afford a beautiful ceremony. My values are being weird and out of the so called normal, to be able to help those who I care for, and to follow what I think is right. I could use help at Suny Canton providing longer completion times on tests and deadlines for classwork. I could also use a supervisor to help me through things I might be struggling to do with my new college experience. Honestly, I'm not sure of what kinds of support Suny Canton has available. I would like to learn more. What I need to work on to become successful is giving myself the motivation and not being so socially impaired.