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HIGH POINT — In the media room of the converted two-story brick home housing the I Am Now  program, poster-sized cap-and-gown graduation pictures show the boys who succeeded here.

“He was valedictorian at his school,” points out Jah-Pree Jackson, 21, as he crouched over homework to earn an associate’s degree in social work at GTCC. Of another, “They found him under a bridge.’ ”

Young men like Jackson, who admits to quitting school and having done “stupid stuff,” are able to live at the program’s Crossroads House  for free while they work toward their high school diplomas and stay off troubled paths. (Photo gallery)

The program’s founder made many of the same mistakes after leaving foster care with no support system. That’s the story of many of the boys who have come through the program.

“I could have committed crimes, and I did commit crimes out of survival,” said Travis C. Burrell, 28. “Consider that you don’t have anywhere to turn to, a place to use the bathroom or to shower — you are going to do what you need to do to survive. ”

Turning 18  means the state no longer has any financial responsibility for kids in foster care —  those who haven’t built strong ties with a family could end up living on the streets before they have a chance to graduate from high school.

“That would be like me giving my son a bookbag and saying, 'You are on your own. Don’t call me, don’t come back. I don’t care where you sleep or if you finish high school,’” said Sharon Bradley, the chairman of the board at the transitional housing program for young men 18 to 23.

Crossroads House will hold a fundraiser, “Sleeping Out for Homeless Youth in the Triad,” on its lawn Saturday . Sleeping in a cardboard box on this night won’t replicate the stress, fear, pain or loss of pride and hope that often coincide with being homeless, Burrell said. But he’s hoping people stop by to learn more.

“We get by simply off passion, but passion cannot sustain a business,” said Burrell, who also is looking for grant-writing volunteers. “Where we’re going is working, and I’m not boasting by saying that.”

With a $156,000 budget  and three  full-time staffers, the program offers free housing for up to eight young people, with resources focused on helping them earn a high school diploma or GED, get a job and build character. The program, one of few of its kind in the state, requires chores and an “exit strategy.”

Upstairs, Keivel Kittrell, 19, here since September, speaks with a certain sadness. Before getting into trouble with the police, he slept with his year-old  son in an abandoned house, using advice he got on the street to rig up the electricity . He goes back to school in January to finish his high school diploma. In the meantime, he struggles to find a job.

“It’s a good thing I got locked up when I did because I was becoming more desperate,” said Kittrell, who wants to get his son back one day.

Bernita Sims, a High Point councilwoman and board member, said a good part of the program’s success is Burrell himself.

“Sometimes it’s very hard to identify with people if you haven’t been through what they’ve been through,” Sims said.

 As a child, Burrell lived a nomadic life in foster care.  His two brothers aged out of foster care and ended up in jail.

Burrell got a chance they didn’t when a man impressed by his hustling bottled water at a basketball court became his mentor and helped him get a business license and invest in vending machines.

“He had a real strong heart for people who were less fortunate,” Burrell said of that man.

Soon Burrell had several businesses, selling clothes and pocketbooks, operating a mobile car-detailing service, and going from salon to salon selling hair products for another company. “I’d take money from one business and start another.”

His lifestyle became comfortable. But a discussion on television about children aging out of foster care, followed by a “60 Minutes” segment the same day, caught his attention.

“I’m a spiritual person and this for me was confirmation: God was speaking to me,” Burrell said. “I believed he was sending me messages that something has to be done and 'Who better to do it than you. You’ve been there.’ I had visions then of exactly what I’m doing now, four years later.”

As he sought  help,  others doubted him, because he didn’t even have a college degree.

“That adversity was in front of me, but the thing that was different from anything else I had done was I was doing this for God,” Burrell said. “God began to open unbelievable doors and put me in front of unbelievable people.”

Burrell  has earned the respect of others.

 “I think they can see his sincerity — not only his willingness, but his heart and passion for what he does,” said Tom Dayvault , president and CEO of the High Point Chamber of Commerce.

Still, the program has nearly gone broke. Burrell also wants to open a similar home for young women.

“I don’t feel like I’m doing anything great. I just feel like I’m doing something that needs to be done,” Burrell said. “These kids are our future, and either we pay now or we pay later.”

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com