CUDAS UnHooked

CUDAS UnHooked Founded in 2009, we are a non-profit charity dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk students graduate at New Smyrna Beach High School!

We are a non-profit charity dedicated to helping at-risk students graduate at New Smyrna Beach High School!

Do you know or have a rising Senior (Class of 2027)? Do they have college dreams... especially a dream school or the nee...
06/09/2026

Do you know or have a rising Senior (Class of 2027)?
Do they have college dreams... especially a dream school or the need for scholarships to make the dream a reality? Then please invite them to our College Process and College Essay Class!

We have teamed with journalist and college essay expert Christine VanDyk to offer a class on Thursday, June 11th, from 10am to 1pm at the Cuda House Community Room. Lunch is included.

The class addresses the college process, strategies for a successful essay, and more.
Following the class, Christine will schedule a one-on-one session to pick the essay topic, deliver two rounds of essay edits, and provide personalized coaching on local and national scholarships to make college dreams affordable.

Christine has helped many students get into dream schools. Most of her clients earn $20,000+ in scholarships. The essay is the secret sauce. In other parts of the country, this service costs $3,000+, but Christine is offering this package to local students for only $400.

If you have questions, please see the contact info on the flyer. To register, please email [email protected].

I'm sure you heard that graduation was last week. We are overflowing with pride about this group of seniors. Our Class o...
06/05/2026

I'm sure you heard that graduation was last week. We are overflowing with pride about this group of seniors. Our Class of 2026 Cudas Unhooked Club graduated 100% of our students!

There are many graduates, so we are telling this story a bit at a time. This group includes students who spent all of high school in our program, one who returned after a break, and others who joined our club just this school year. Regardless of their tenure, we are proud of their accomplishments and dedication to Cudas Unhooked. Being a member of our club means choosing to become a better version of yourself while serving our club and greater community.

As hard as it is to say goodbye to this group, we look forward to watching them soar in their chosen fields. This group includes an aspiring:
- cosmetologist
- airline mechanic
- mortician
- theater tech expert
- fashion creator/influencer and more!

Congratulations to this group of students and their loved ones. We are proud of you and hope you keep in touch because "once a Cuda, always a Cuda." You are part of the Cudas Unhooked family for life!

Yesterday we hosted our End of the School Year party at Menard-May Park in Edgewater. We also celebrated an 18th birthda...
06/05/2026

Yesterday we hosted our End of the School Year party at Menard-May Park in Edgewater. We also celebrated an 18th birthday!

Thank you to our amazing volunteers— Kat, Chantal, Jim x 2, Cindy, Cheryl, and Charlotte, Edgewater’s Vice Mayor. We appreciate how you pour love and care into our students, including all of the makings of our delicious potluck meal.

We enjoyed walking tacos, fruit, deviled eggs, cookies, cupcakes, and even roasted s’mores. We played corn-hole and volleyball, made bracelets, got wet in the Intracoastal, and chatted about our summer plans, jobs, fun with friends and family, teams we play on, and, for some, looking forward to college in the fall.

The kids also got to bring home donated goodies including flip-flops, salon hair care, pantry staples, and loads of snacks. We truly appreciate our community supports our students.

😎 Since summer is here, we have a question for you! Please tell us either:
- What are you looking forward to most this summer?
- What is your favorite summertime memory from high school?

⭐Final Cuda Club Meeting 2025-26⭐With the Seniors done with classes, we had the opportunity to get together with our Jun...
05/26/2026

⭐Final Cuda Club Meeting 2025-26⭐

With the Seniors done with classes, we had the opportunity to get together with our Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen one last time for our regular Tuesday meeting.

We talked about our additional end of year plans 🎉 and welcomed our dear friend, Bethany Bennett, for a fun painting session. How fitting to paint sunsets as we close out this school year. Thank you, Bethany, for sharing your love of art, your time, and your talents. 🎨

We also want to thank Kat Stanley and Chantal Fieldman (our amazing new volunteer!) for helping us greet and serve our students with love and kindness.

Today, we honor and remember the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Memorial Day is mo...
05/25/2026

Today, we honor and remember the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Memorial Day is more than a long weekend — it is a time to reflect on the courage, service, and selflessness of those who gave their lives protecting our country and our future.

At Cudas Unhooked, we are grateful for the freedoms that allow us to serve, support, and empower young people in our community every day. We pause today in remembrance of our fallen heroes and extend our deepest gratitude to the military families who carry their legacy forward.

May we never forget their sacrifice.

Honors Night @ NSB High School!!It is an absolute joy to report how FIVE of our Cudas Unhooked students fared at Honors ...
05/20/2026

Honors Night @ NSB High School!!

It is an absolute joy to report how FIVE of our Cudas Unhooked students fared at Honors Night. We may have to update this total, but as of now, we are thrilled to announce that together they were awarded over $85k in scholarships!!

We’d like to thank all of the local donors who cumulatively gave out over $640k in scholarships to NSB High students. Among these donors are many generous supporters of our program. See if you can spot them in the pics:
- Wendy & Shawn Lane (our Founder) with CAPS
- Kathy O’Reilly from Oak Hill Garden Club
- Charlotte Gillis, who is on multiple Edgewater scholarship committees
- Bill and others from Coronado Community United Methodist Church
- Jim Patania, our coaching dinner chef and mentor, representing the local Pickleball association

And thank you to the many administrators who support, guide, and celebrate these high achieving students! We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to watching them continue to work hard, learn, and thrive. Our students appreciate the blessings that these scholarships bring. Thank you for helping to lessen their financial burdens by supporting them on the next phase of their journey.



May’s Coaching DinnerFor our last coaching dinner of the school year, the teams at the Artists’ Workshop and the Marine ...
05/18/2026

May’s Coaching Dinner

For our last coaching dinner of the school year, the teams at the Artists’ Workshop and the Marine Discovery Center teamed up to host our group of students and mentors. Even the thunderstorms didn’t dampen the fun!

Thank you to Cayla and Mikayla for the Taboo ice breaker and the opportunity to view brackish water through the microscope and learn about the many organisms we can’t see with the naked eye. The students had an opportunity to turn life into art and draw the shapes they saw and we connected the loop with a lively discussion that included Sponge Bob! Art, math, and science have such interesting connections when you take the time to think about it.

Jim, our favorite chef and mentor, led a team including Sue, Kathryn, Cindy, and our wonderful new volunteer Chantal to serve up an incredible meal of grill and picnic favorites. The boys might have had a cheeseburger eating contest and everyone got into some team arm wrestling.

The night concluded with a tour of the Artists’ Workshop space including the clay room, library, and much more. The best parts were the smiles and connections our students made with the adults. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this fun and memorable night. We are already counting the days until our first coaching dinner in the fall.

Marine Discovery Center

🎓Cuda Club Update: Volunteering & 2026 Seniors🎓This week at club, we celebrated our top 2 volunteering students of the s...
05/14/2026

🎓Cuda Club Update: Volunteering & 2026 Seniors🎓

This week at club, we celebrated our top 2 volunteering students of the semester! These boys attended meetings and volunteer opportunities within our community and at school to earn top honors.

We also celebrated our Seniors! While some were missing due to ceremonies, testing, or work commitments, all of our Seniors are given a personalized journal. Journaling is a powerful practice. We encourage them to document this special time in their lives. We include prompts to give them ideas for what to think and write about. Our hope is to help them keep growing through these life transitions to full-time employment or college.

More on college later, but we are proud to tell you that the Cudas Unhooked Class of 2026 includes future FSU, UCF, Embry-Riddle, Full Sail, and Daytona State students!! We are so proud and excited for them.

Sending a special thank you to these adorable angels (missing their fearless leader, Cynthia L Holliday)💕Thank you to Sa...
05/13/2026

Sending a special thank you to these adorable angels (missing their fearless leader, Cynthia L Holliday)💕

Thank you to Sandy, Cheryl, and Bill from Coronado Community United Methodist Church. We owe you a year of thank you’s for feeding and supporting our students all school year long! The love and care you pour over our students demonstrates how much you care. We truly appreciate your time, effort, and talents!

It's hard to believe how fast time flies, I'm sure August and the start of next school year will be here before we know it. If you or your group would like to help with meals for the 2026-2027 school year, please reach out. We have one-time, quarterly, and monthly spots available. 🍽️

05/08/2026

I recently had the opportunity to visit New Smyrna Beach High School for the final noon meeting of this year’s CUDAS UnHooked lecture series with Kat Stanley, resident volunteer, and Pam Ison from Ison Consulting, led by NSB highschool faculty member Amanda McCready.

We spoke with the students about their bright futures, the opportunities that exist through continuing education, and how local government works right here in our city.

The level of engagement from the students stood out to me the most. The questions they asked were thoughtful, inquisitive, and encouraging to hear from the next generation.

If you are unfamiliar with Cudas Unhooked, the program provides a stable living and studying environment for students in need while surrounding them with adult role models who help guide and encourage positive development.

Programs like this demonstrate that strong communities are built by neighbors willing to invest their time, experience, and belief in others. NSB is fortunate to have caring citizens and educators doing exactly that every day.

Address

1211 Claudette Street
New Smyrna Beach, FL
32168

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