Investing in the Future: One Family’s Path Through AHC’s Programs

April 16, 2025

In 2013, Nissreen Belal and her family moved from a smaller place to a three-bedroom apartment at The Berkeley (redeveloped and now known as The Apex). While at this AHC community, she discovered our education programs and wanted her three children to get involved.

At the time, the programs were full, but there was space in the programs at Fort Henry Gardens, a nearby AHC community.

Now living in a single-family home, Nissreen’s six children — five girls and one boy — have remained highly involved in AHC’s programs at Fort Henry. Two of her children have since graduated from the College & Career Readiness (CCR) program.

“It's a big support for the family and the kids,” she said. “The kids make close friends — they feel like they are siblings in the program. It also makes them think seriously about going to college, being a good student, and how to be successful in their life.”

Nissreen’s children started in AHC’s Afterschool program, where the homework help made a difference.

“My kids go to an immersion school where they study in Spanish and English. And at home, we don't speak Spanish, so it is hard for me to help them if they need it,” she said. “There are some [AHC] tutors who speak Spanish fluently. They help them a lot with their homework.”

Nissreen with her daughter at Virginia Tech.

One of her younger children is now part of CCR’s Leaders in Training program and has enjoyed going on college visits and learning about different career paths. Recently, Nissreen joined her daughter Rahaf on a trip to Virginia Tech for the university’s annual science festival.

“She loved it,” Nissreen said.

Her older children have completed the CCR program, and she said it had a profound impact — especially on her son.

“He said, ‘After high school, I can work and I can make money,’” she said. “But when he attended the [CCR] workshops, they changed his mind about going to school.”

Her son is now a student at NOVA, and she said he’s doing well. Nissreen also decided to go back to school and is taking early childhood education classes. She is a part-time student at NOVA, balancing her duties as a mom and a student.

Last semester, she and her son had a class together and shared some friendly competition.

“We both took Bio 101, and when I got a really good grade, better than him, the teacher started teasing him and she said, ‘Guess what? Who is getting the best grade here?’” Nissreen said. “Once he told me, ‘You win a battle — I win a war,’ because his total grade was higher than mine.”

Now, Nissreen and her husband are working toward buying a home — a dream that comes with challenges. But she remains grateful for the path that led her to AHC.

“I'm so happy [we moved to The Berkeley] because I found out about this program,” Nissreen said.