The tutoring program gave us a chance to get to know and open dialogues with the parents by getting to know the kids and their thoughts and concerns. Opening that door allowed us to politically activate the parents getting them interested in doing something positive about issues important to them. We ran voter registration drives, held town hall meetings inviting local school administrators and school board members. We got local politicians and candidates interested in our neighborhood and it's concerns. By the time we graduated we had managed to get a local neighbor on the local school board and another elected to the city council.