Nonprofit receives $ 6k from church to fund future projects

A nonprofit received $6k from a church to help fund its future projects. (Photo by Ev on Unsplash)

The First Presbyterian Church of Umatilla gave Forward Paths Foundation $6,000 to fund its future projects. The church gave the organization the funds as part of its Giving Tuesday initiative. 

Helping children out of the foster care system

According to a report with Spectrum News, the money was given through Mt. Dora Community Trust. The nonprofit is hoping to use the funds to expand The Cottages on Grove.

Forward Paths Foundation is a nonprofit that is dedicated to helping foster care children transition into adulthood. 

Other nonprofits also had fundraising efforts as part of Giving Tuesday.

A passion to help children

Denise Burry is the executive director of Forward Paths Foundation. She shared that always had a passion for helping the children in her community. 

She told the news outlet that they worked to protect these children in the foster care system. Burry explained that those who turned 18 in foster care were vulnerable because they had no place to go. 

Burry pointed out that this was where their foundation stepped in to help these foster care children find their way in life. 

She realized that there was a lack of foundations that supported these young adults when they were out of foster care. Burry immediately went into action.

Burry explained that they needed to do something for these young adults who were out of foster care because they were in danger of becoming at-risk youth. 

She added that it was their duty to support these young people. 

Burry helped establish the Forward Paths Foundation. 

Transitioning into adulthood

According to the website, the nonprofit helps young adults aged 16 to 24 to transition into the "real world." 

The organization provides education, housing, and mentorship program for these young people. 

The website said that it also aims to influence the youth to gain the path of independence. It also wants to protect these young people from the dangers of homelessness and drug addiction.

It aims to do so with the use of mentorship and educational programs that would allow these youth to get an education or find employment. 

The nonprofit aims to stir these youth in the right direction. 

Currently, the nonprofit is catering to 156 young adults and 53 children. Most of them are living at The Cottages on Grove, in Eustis.

“In the end we’ll have about 27 youth living on this campus, being able to ride a bike to school, hopefully, find a part-time job while they do it,” said Burry.

Protecting at risk youth 

In a study by the Department of Children and Families, over 20 percent of young adults who came out of foster care are at risk of being homeless. 

Burry knows the youth are Lake County are more at risk. She admitted that the nonprofit needed all the help it could get. 

She explained that they do not belong to a metropolitan area where they could receive funding for educational programs. 

Burry said that the holidays reminded people of the importance of giving back to the community. 

She emphasized that the community needed to help these children who were cheated on by the foster care system. 

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