My son and I were in Philadelphia for a hockey tournament this weekend.  We went to Independence Hall, the American Revolution museum, toured Villanova and Penn and we accidentally drove through a neighborhood we most certainly did not mean to visit.

There were houses half standing, boards on windows and one clearly had a major fire that reduced the living space to one room – which was being lived in.  I’m sure I could have purchased half the cars we saw for the cash that I happened to have in my wallet at the time.

Between “Dad! Get us out of here” there was a lot of “Thank you for being my Dad- I am so lucky”.

Luck.  The difference maker between many million dollar ideas and failed entrepreneurs.  The difference between the 14 year old’s life that was watching us drive by and the 14 year old in the car saying “get me the hell out of here.”

How then do you break the cycle of poverty, when I can afford to take my son to Philly, learn about American history together, play hockey and plan and invest in his University career while the child on the street corner watching us drive by has none of those opportunities.  Not everyone in West Philadelphia has a rich Uncle in Bel-Aire like the Fresh Prince, it turns out.

Taxes may pay for schools but what if the students going aren’t seeing modeled behavior that cares about education?  More than half the children born into the families of the bottom 20% – stay in the bottom 20%.

Can I pay my income tax bill in community mentorship credits?