Horizons Of Hope

Imagine this scenario. You are a single mom with two young children ages 4 and 2. The younger child, a son, is disabled and requires special care. You have a high
school diploma and work at a pizza place. What’s a mother to do? She mothers. And she works. And she decides to go to college. For Amber Sroufe, back in 2009, the decision to continue her education was easy; it held the promise of a better future for her and her children. The hard part was in the details. It meant carving out time to take classes and study while holding down a part-time job and keeping up a household. At times it meant finding and paying for childcare. There was gas to be purchased for trips to Fort Wayne three times a week and more than a few college text books with hefty price tags. Thankfully, there was also Horizons of Hope.

The program began in 2006 when a pair of anonymous donors approached the Foundation with an idea. Their hearts were telling them to find a way to help ease
some of the burden for single parents who were trying to juggle childcare, work and school. They turned to the Foundation for assistance and together we created
Horizons of Hope. Overseen by a committee who reviews applications which are submitted by referral from social service organizations, the fund offers hardworking, single parents a little help in the form of gas money, childcare support, book fees or tuition costs. It wasn’t until a few years down the road, when Amber had almost completed her degree that she realized the assistance she had received had not come from a state grant or an agency, but from two very generous, caring people who simply wanted to help her without knowing who she was. “I just couldn’t believe that someone would do something like that,” she recalls. “It made a world of difference for me and my kids and I’ll always be grateful for their generosity and support.” 

Amber earned her Associates degree in Nursing from St. Francis University and plans to continue her education.