Forward Paths Foundation Inc

I look back on my days as a single mother and remember what a struggle it was to provide what my boys needed and deserved. I prayed that I would somehow make it happen. It was then that I made a promise that when I fought my way out, I would find a way to help others, to make a difference. It was a promise I meant to keep. My days of struggling over, I am now a mother of 8, including two through adoption. I decided to keep my promise by donating my time as a Guardian ad Litem. In my role of child advocate, I witnessed children aging out of the system only to be thrust into the world with few skills and little support. Many are faced with the challenges of adulthood with no home, no family, little education, and no real job skills. Imagine turning eighteen, you have no where to go and being told, “Go figure it out.” They don’t have a checking account and wouldn’t know how to balance a checkbook if they did. They don’t have jobs or even know how to find one. They face a difficult road, at best. A number of years ago, some colleagues and I founded the Forward Paths Foundation whose mission is to help youths make this transition into adulthood. We believe there are two words that should never be used together; “homeless” and “youth”. I now serve as president of the organization and work hard every day trying to help our community’s youth who are most at-risk. Their biggest challenge is housing. We hope to develop a micro housing community. We currently serve over fifty youths locally and our hope is that our work will one day lead to a solution on a national level. I am keeping my promise and the reason I give is so that one day there will be no homeless youth.