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Gabriel Avalos ’17 is helping teens find their future.

Avalos is the coordinator of post-secondary options, career resources and scholarship at Chicago’s Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, a therapeutic residential program for children who have experienced abuse, neglect or violence in their homes.

Avalos helps teenage residents form their post-Mercy Home life goals — putting them on the path to college, trade school, job training or military service.

“My hope is to make sure kids understand the different pathways they have in life,” Avalos says.

An English major at ���ӽ�, Avalos considered teaching before receiving what he describes as a “calling” to social service.

“The most fulfilling part of my job is when I check in with the youth every week and I ask them how their week is going,” he shared. “I make sure they have someone to talk to if it’s not going well.”

Avalos gets to know each of the youth to help them identify personal goals — even when motivation is a challenge.

“Sometimes there’s the youth who don’t want to do anything, so I tell them, ‘This is your path. This is what’s going to happen,’” Avalos said. “Sometimes they don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but they’re still kids and they are still growing. That’s the most important part.”