Fifth Grade drop out.

In the article, 'San Jose dad in jail - and mom's on the way - for 13-year-old girl's chronic truancy' by Tracy Kaplan, she writes about just that. Vanessa Geronimo who is a "fifth grade drop out" I will not give much background since the link to the article is right above. She has weight and mental issues which make going to school extremly hard.
The school sent countless warnings, it just was not a letter or two. But a multitude of steps from tough love to counseling. What was not there was the 100% from the parent and student. In elementary the teachers used to say that successful schooling was a three was street. A collaboration between teacher, student, and parent. If one is missing than the whole ecosystem is liable to go down. Just by reading the article it is easy to spot that here the student and parents where not giving it their all.
On the fifth paragraph Vanessa is quoted saying that shes going to TRY and go to school if they will let her mom go free. And this time she means it. She does not mean it. Instead of saying "I will" she says "I'm willing to really try." She could totally be a politician. Maybe I'm being insensitive about her health troubles. But I have been exposed to those cases before. The difference is they reached for help. I come from a house where you make sacrifices for the good of the family. If it means counseling to: give up smoking or dealing with schizophrenia than you do it. Not because we are stronger but because separating a family because someone does not want to "deal with it" is not an option. She put herself a head of the rest with out caring until now.
Toward the end of the article there is mention of an agency that can help Vanessa ,located near her house. If the parents had not give up they would have found it a lot sooner. I can not really blame them though. they tried to reach to their daughter. she just did not answer back.
It is not called a last resort for anything. She still has family like her grandfather and older sister. Maybe now she will ACTUALLY give it her all

AVODAH

Religion does not limit it self to race, though it can have concentrations to particular races. With religion comes traditions, foods, songs and dance, and too many a mental-emotional anchor. What I mean by this is that many use religion as a safety net when things go wrong or not the way the where planned to happen. When meeting people that have shared these same experiences, even if they are strangers, it creates a foundation for friendship that has nothing to do with dogma.
Now what AVODAH did was take advantage of this pre-existing foundation of friendship, to build a community of Jewish people who wanted to make their community a better place. Take advantage has a negative connotation but should not be take as such, like taking advantage of sunlight to produce solar energy.
Back to the point, at the very base of most religions is the sense of helping out people, being a better person and making a connection that goes farther than yourself. So advocacy and faith go hand in hand. Advocacy goes beyond oneself with a sense of a higher goal. Intertwining faith and advocacy seems like a logical step to reach a stronger end.