Isaiah & Cheryl Welch
How IYT Helped Transform One Student’s Journey to College
The community around each young person shapes their path, but for Isaiah Welch, a senior at Golden Valley High School in Merced, the road to high school graduation was forged through profound resilience, unconditional family love, and a transformative relationship with a dedicated mentor.
A Foundation Tested by Loss
Isaiah’s story began with an unthinkable loss. When he was just two years old, his mother passed away unexpectedly due to a congenital heart condition at the age of 22. Shortly after, his father was no longer in the picture. Isaiah’s grandmother, Cheryl Welch, immediately stepped in to raise him.
“Isaiah was a happy young man,” she recalls. “He loved laughing, playing outside, and spending time with his friends. Although he lost his mother, he seemed to be adjusting well.”
As the years passed, tragedy struck the family again. While living in Patterson, Isaiah lost his great-grandmother, to whom he was deeply attached. Overwhelmed by grief, Isaiah struggled to process his anger, often finding himself getting into fights at school. Cheryl tried her best to guide him through the pain, but she was grieving her own mother while also helping her grandson navigate his grief.
As Isaiah was planning to enter his freshman year of high school, he and his grandmother moved to Merced, California. All at once, he found himself experiencing the loss of community, friends, and the comfort of his routine. High school is plenty challenging all on its own, but to start your freshman year at a school in an entirely new community is exponentially more difficult.
Though Cheryl consistently emphasized the importance of education, a value also embodied by Isaiah’s late mother, who was attending Sacramento State when she passed, he found it difficult to see beyond the compounding grief. "With everything that’s happened, I don't know if his heart believed life was going to get better," Cheryl reflects. "Each time someone passes, it takes him back... I don't know if he really thought college was a possibility for him."
Stepping Through the Door with IYT
As a freshman, Isaiah was introduced to Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT), and he and Cheryl were both uncertain about the program. Cheryl was cautious about who was engaging with her grandson, and Isaiah was quiet, reserved, and hesitant to participate. During his first year with IYT, Isaiah would show up, but mostly sat in silence. However, the program’s consistent presence began to create a quiet baseline of trust.
Isaiah & his IYT Mentor, Viviana
The real turning point came when Isaiah was paired with his IYT Mentor, Viviana. Initially, Cheryl had her reservations about a woman mentoring a young man in a program geared toward boys. "I thought, why aren’t men the ones mentoring the boys?" Cheryl says. "But Viviana showed me it doesn’t matter, as long as they care enough to pay attention and ask those important questions.”
Building a Bridge Through Mentorship
Viviana’s approach was rooted in persistence, active listening, and genuine care. She quickly learned that the key to unlocking Isaiah’s quiet exterior was his passion for football. By meeting him where he was and engaging him in conversations about teams, plays, and coaches, she built a bridge.
Viviana’s support went far beyond casual check-ins. When Isaiah struggled with a welding class he strongly disliked, she accompanied him to class to understand why he was frustrated, and help him navigate a path forward. When tragedy struck Cheryl’s family once again, with the devastating loss of both her father and son during Isaiah’s junior year, Viviana helped ensure Isaiah had a complete support system. "I couldn't follow up on a lot of things because it was so much," Cheryl shares. "But Viviana stepped in and she met with him regularly, she was meeting with him every day. She would just connect and make sure he was doing well. Even though I couldn't do what I wanted at that time, she texted to let me know what was going on. That was so helpful."
Isaiah after earning on-the-spot acceptance to Sacramento State
The Switch Flips
With consistency and patience, Cheryl watched her grandson transform. The quiet student who used to "forget" his permission slips started eagerly bringing home forms for college campus visits, including a week-long residential stay at UC Merced. He stopped getting into fights, opened up about his feelings, and began taking ownership of his future.
A recent moment that captured his newfound confidence occurred during an HBCU College Expo. Unprompted, Isaiah volunteered to join a group on stage to perform a dance routine they had learned just five minutes prior… and won. "That is so not his personality," Cheryl laughs. "He would never have done that before. Never."
Another pivotal boost to Isaiah's self-worth came when Viviana selected him to mentor a middle school student. Having often felt overlooked in his younger years, being recognized as a leader was transformative. "He was so shocked and excited that she picked him," Cheryl says. "I told him, 'Well yeah, you are a leader.' And he's like, 'Yeah, I know, but nobody ever picks me.' That turned his whole attitude around, that she recognized something in him and acted on it."
A Bright Future Ahead
Today, Isaiah is thriving. He’s in his senior year at Golden Valley High School, maintaining straight A’s, taking two college courses, a captain of the football team, and ranked number one running back in the Central California Conference with over 1,100 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
At a recent college expo (the same where he surprised his grandmother by joining a last-minute dance challenge on stage), Isaiah met with representatives from multiple colleges. Because he proactively completed his A-G requirements, college applications, and FAFSA, he received on-the-spot confirmation that he was accepted to Sacramento State. For Isaiah and Cheryl, being accepted to the very university his mother attended, brought his journey full circle. "His reaction when he got into Sac State, he was all smiles. He was just beaming from ear-to-ear like, 'Oh my goodness, I did it,'" Cheryl says.
With plans to play college football, enter the NFL draft, then pivot to sports management, Isaiah is actively building a clear, structured roadmap for his life. Every step of the way, his grandmother is there, ready to cheer him on.
Reflecting on their experience with IYT, Cheryl now encourages other families in the community to take advantage of the program.
"They really take care of them," Cheryl says. "It's not just, 'Oh, come join the club.' IYT makes sure each participant feels connected, seen, and heard, as they move from one year to the next.”
When asked about her hopes for Isaiah’s future, Cheryl reiterated her excitement to see what unfolds. “Isaiah is an amazing young man with a lot of potential. He has overcome many obstacles, and I want him to succeed in whatever he chooses to do. I'll always be on the sidelines cheering him on!"
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