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Thank you once again for contributing to our GlobalGiving campaign! You’ve truly helped our single parents and our organization in our time of need!

Because of your

generosity, we not only met our fundraising goal, but we surpassed it, generating $5,557. What made our victory even sweeter is that it happened on my newborn, RJ’s one month birthday (pictured on the right)!

Your support promoted HOPE to partner status on this global fundraising platform, which will allow us to share our mission with people from all over the world.

Please be assured that, thanks to your gift and those of your fellow supporters, we are continuing to do all we can to assist our single parents through this health pandemic. We will continue to provide emergency support to our families in crisis and keep you updated on how you are making a difference.
With my very best wishes to you and the people close to you,

Kenita Smith
H.O.P.E. Founder and CEO

As more and more states across the country respond to the world’s current health crisis by implementing shutdowns and social distancing, we at H.O.P.E. are continuing to provide rent and childcare assistance to single parents enrolled in college, while also providing emergency assistance to address food, utilities, and other needs. Sadly, COVID-19 has impacted our H.O.P.E. family personally, as one of our participants is currently afflicted with the corona virus. She needs us, and her children need us to help her, now more than ever!

Can we count on you to help support her family through this scary situation? Please give $10, $25, or more today and make your donation go even further with today’s GlobalGiving Bonus Day incentives at https://goto.gg/45056.

Thank you for thinking of others during what is a difficult time for all of us. It speaks volumes of your kindness and generous spirit. I am confident we will all get through this crisis, together.

Warmest regards,

Kenita Smith

H.O.P.E. founder & CEO

P.S.  I put together the following video, explaining how your donation means so much during our GlobalGiving campaign https://youtu.be/X2PuytLChMQ.  This is a great information tool for sharing with your friends and family who may be new to H.O.P.E.

 H.O.P.E., INC. KICKS OFF GLOBAL GIVING CAMPAIGN FOR SINGLE PARENTS

Campaign will assist seven Atlanta area single parents with obtaining a college degree in 2020

DULUTH, Georgia (March 13, 2020) — H.O.P.E., Inc. (Helping Other People be Empowered)–a nonprofit organization serving low-income single parents working to obtain a college degree–today announced the launch of a GlobalGiving campaign aimed at securing funds to help seven Atlanta area single parents earn college degrees this year. The goal is to raise $5,000 by March 25.

GlobalGiving is an online fundraising platform that connects nonprofits with a national and international network of donors. In order to secure permanent placement in their network, H.O.P.E. must first successfully complete their Accelerator program which requires the organization to raise $5,000 from 40 donors by March 25.

“This is the perfect opportunity for H.O.P.E. to reach more donors with our mission and broaden our impact in the community,” said Kenita Smith, founder and CEO of H.O.P.E. “With the help of our community we look forward to completing the Accelerator program and ensuring our place in the GlobalGiving network.”

H.O.P.E.’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty by providing much-needed resources for low-income single parents in the Atlanta metro area working to obtain a college degree. Their goal is to eliminate barriers to education. They accomplish this by providing financial assistance for housing and childcare, as well as counseling services, life-skills training, spiritual support, and financial literacy guidance. Ultimately, H.O.P.E. strives to make positive impacts on the life-trajectories of both single parents and their children.

In the U.S., one in eight college students are single parents. Single parent students face daunting obstacles in their path to obtain a college degree. Unlike their married counterparts, single parents are more likely to have low-incomes and thereby face greater challenges in paying rent and childcare costs, ultimately forcing them to drop out of school.

Atlanta ranks 99 out of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas making it one of the worst cities for single parents based on factors including, income, access to community resources and education[1]. Studies show there is a direct correlation between education and income levels. These statistics reinforce the importance and need for these types of services for single parents, especially in the Atlanta area.

In its 10-year history, H.O.P.E. has helped 65 single parents with their goal of earning a college degree, which in turn, has impacted the lives of 157 children. According to the organization’s 2019 graduate survey, 84% of H.O.P.E. graduates increased their savings by 70% after earning their degrees; 42% of graduates increased their post-degree income by 121% and improved their credit scores by an average of 75 points. Additionally, 21% of graduates own a home, while 5% are in the process of purchasing one.

“We are proud of the long-term, positive impact we are facilitating in our community,” Smith continued. “We are eager to do continue our work towards breaking the cycle of poverty and elevating the lives of families in the Atlanta metro area. Becoming a member of the GlobalGiving network will ensure our mission can continue for years to come.”

Proceeds from H.O.P.E.’s GlobalGiving project will help seven Atlanta-area single parents attend college and earn a degree this year. Support their campaign before the March 25 deadline by visiting https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-and-equip-single-parents-enrolled-in-college/

About H.O.P.E., Inc.

H.O.P.E., Inc. (Helping Other People be Empowered) is a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization serving low-income single parents working to obtain a college degree by providing subsidized housing, childcare, social services and life skills. Their goal is to break the cycle of poverty by empowering single parents with a college degree to ultimately become self-sufficient. To learn more about H.O.P.E. visit, www.hopbe.org.

Media Contact

Media Contact

Joanna Rice

Grey Matter Marketing

951-751-1858

joanna@greymattermarketing.com

My name is Vlairis, I am a single mother of a three-year-old, and I was a full-time dental hygiene student. My dream had always been to work in healthcare since I was a little girl and that dream continued as I went through high school.

I found out about the dental hygiene career, and I fell in love with it. Since 2009, when I graduated from high school, I had been working towards that dream. Because my parents did not have the financial resources to enroll me in college, I was not able to enroll in post-secondary school right away and had to get a job instead. Yet, my desire to accomplish my dream never wavered.

Years later, with great excitement, I was able to finally enroll in college! However, before I could accomplish my goal of becoming a dental hygienist, I became a mother to my now three-year-old little boy. Some women may have given up due to the known hardships of being a single parent, but I didn’t give up! I knew that I had an even bigger reason to accomplish my goals.

As a single mom full-time college student, it was impossible to make daycare and rent payments. Thankfully, that’s when you came in! You were right on time to help me achieve a better future for my son and I. You gave me help with daycare, rent, and even paid for three months of swimming classes for my son during the summer. In addition to financial assistance, you provided training and seminars to help me make better financial decisions in the future. I will forever be thankful for the assistance and help you gave me throughout my journey.

Now you have the opportunity to help more single parents like me make a difference. There are seven more single mothers waiting to graduate from college behind me, and they need you to do it. H.O.P.E, Inc. is trying to make their dreams come true with it’s Global Giving: Empower & Equip Single Parents Enrolled in College Project. Won’t you click here and give today to affect change in seven more people’s lives?

Thank you for all you did for me and will continue to do for others!

Proud Graduate,

Vlairis E.
Dental Hygienist

P.S. Make sure your donation counts by going to our Global Giving Project page to give your gift! Help more single moms like Vlairis beat poverty. 

It’s March 9th! Today is the day that we kick off our Global Giving Project that we told you about a couple of days ago.

The purpose of this project is to help seven single parents complete their college degrees this year and increase the number of single parents we assist. Now we know that sometimes you may feel like there’s always a need and you just can’t help everyone, but we would like to offer another perspective.

Yes, there is always a need, BUT you have single-handedly met the needs of 195 people SUCCESSFULLY! In Gwinnett County alone, less than 30% of single-parent students are graduating, but YOU have an 80% graduation rate! You aren’t making a small difference, you are making a HUGE difference!!

This project will give you the option to keep doing what you’ve been doing and impact more lives, but it will also open the opportunity to others that may want to help too!

What do we need you to do? (1) We need you to go to our Global Giving Project: Empower & Equip Single Parents Enrolled in College and commit to offering one of the following gifts to our single parents…

- $10 to help a single parent open a savings account
- $25 to provide financial training for a single parent
- $50 provides counseling for a single parent
- $100 provides a full weeks worth of childcare
- $250 shelters a single parent and their children for one month
- $1,000 secures childcare for a year!

REMEMBER YOU HAVE TO DONATE THROUGH OUR PROJECT SITE, NOT OUR WEBSITE FOR THE GIFT TO COUNT.

(2) Become our ambassador and share your donation on your social media sites, encouraging others to join you. They say child-rearing takes a village, well I’m convinced that fundraising does too. The great thing about our village is that you’re always there!

We have two weeks to reach our goal of $5,000 from 40 different donors! Will you make it happen? I’m confident that you will.

Sincerely,

Kenita Smith, BBA, MBA, MBA
President/CEO and Founder
H.O.P.E, Inc.

P.S. It’s kick-off day! We need 40 donors to go to our Global Giving Project: Empower & Equip Single Parents Enrolled in College and help us reach our project goal of $5,000! 

What would you do with a 121% increase in salary? I would imagine that things would look quite different financially for you. You would be in a new tax bracket, economic class,

could possibly afford to purchase things you’ve dreamt about, and would certainly improve your quality of life, right?

Well, that’s what 42% of our graduates are experiencing right now. With less than one year in their new careers, many of them have increased their annual income by 121%! Most went from making under $20,000 to over $50,000 because YOU believed in them!

I’m writing today to tell you about an exciting opportunity that we have this month, and we need your help to achieve our goal.

It’s no secret, that we have been on a mission to grow, and we have done so gradually and gracefully over the past ten years, especially in the last three years. This month we have an opportunity to become members of the Global Giving Network, but in order to do so, we need to raise a total of $5,000 from 40 individual donors to help increase the number of single parents we can serve this year.

The name of our project is Empower & Equip Single Parents Enrolled in College, and we need all of our supporters to go to our project and give between the dates of March 9th and March 25th. Now, the KEY is you MUST give on our Global Giving site within these dates for the gift to count. You can give…

$10 to help a single parent open a savings account
$25 to provide financial training for a single parent
$50 provides counseling for a single parent
$100 provides a full weeks worth of childcare
$250 shelters a single parent and their children for one month
$1,000 secures childcare for a year!

Why is this important? We want to see our seven upcoming graduates increase their incomes by 121% too, and we want to empower more single parents to complete their college education. What you all have done is nothing short of AMAZING through our HOPE program, and we want to keep up the good work we are both doing in the community.

Let’s keep changing lives together and exceed our project goal to reach more single parents!

Sincerely,

Kenita Smith, BBA, MBA, MA
President/CEO & Founder
H.O.P.E, Inc.

P.S. it all kicks off March 9th! We just need 40 individual donors to help us raise $5,000 to change more lives! 

This time fifteen years ago, I gave birth to my youngest boy (thus far), Marcus! It was surreal because his actual due date was Valentine’s Day, and I remember thinking there

was no way he would be born on that day. I was 25 years old, and studying for a huge nursing exam with some friends and fellow nursing students on February 12, 2005. I remember driving home and having a talk with Marcus telling him to not be late (like his older brother was) and to come on time. Marcus has always been laid back and a pretty obedient child. Without any delay, I started having contractions five minutes apart the next morning and after a day of waiting, Marcus was born on Valentine’s Day morning. What a great love gift for me and my family!

Today, as we wait for RJ to bless our lives, I think about all of the great expectations this year brings. We had ten graduates that are just beginning their new careers and a life full of great expectation, and another seven single parents that will be graduating this year and ready to experience the beginning of their new normal. A life without school, and hopefully, a life full of opportunity.

This year, I hope this day means more to you than just flowers and chocolates. I hope you realize that you have been the sweetest gift to me and 195 other people. And I pray it’s evident that you course-corrected generations to come and your gift is invaluable to people like Valerie! Read her thoughts about your gift in her own words…

“I would like to thank you for all of your help! Your unwavering support of me pursuing my degree is truly a blessing. Your support allowed me to put forth more time to study. The financial support, along with the motivational support you continued to show for me and my family, will never be forgotten. Your program to assist mothers who are trying to do better, and be better, is nothing short of amazing! It’s hard to commit to a full-time program while trying to juggle being a single mother and working. With your support, you’ve allowed me to be an example to my daughters. The seminars, assistance for summer camp and your personal phone calls have been a true testament to a prayer that was answered.” Not only has Valerie graduated, but her oldest daughter is getting a full ride to college! How about that for impact?!?

Happy Valentine’s Day H.O.P.E Family! You’re the gift that keeps on giving!

Sincerely,

Kenita Smith, BBA. MBA, MA
President/CEO & Founder
H.O.P.E, Inc.

P.S. We have more exciting news to come! Look out for it.

Hey there,

In less than 30 days, my world as I know it will change. You’ve heard stories about how I became a single mom at age 21, and have raised my two biological sons, and stepson, Deon Jr., to beat the odds. Well, within 4 weeks there will be a new addition to my family, and yes, it is another BOY!

We wait with anticipation because Ronald Jr. (RJ) has been longed for with faithful prayers for 25 years by my husband, Ron. RJ will be his very first biological child and the very first grandson on his side of the family! It’s no wonder that our families and friends are so excited for us, as evident by the 100 people in attendance for our baby shower last weekend (and that was a reduced list).

I feel privileged and honored to give my husband this great gift, and in thinking about what it means to have a dream fulfilled, I thought about the great gift you and I give to the single parents we serve every day. Of course, being a conduit of something so special changes one’s life and perspective.

I think about how you helped give Dominique (pictured on the left) her long term dream of becoming a Dental Hygienist. After twelve years of hoping to achieve this goal, she graduated in December 2019, along with nine other graduates! Not only that, she was THE FIRST MEMBER IN HER FAMILY TO GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE! Of course, as a teen mom, she wasn’t expected to accomplish much. The odds were stacked against her, and society stipulated her abilities and worth. Yet, she graduated with a high G.P.A, had job offers in hand before walking the stage, passed her state boards, and increased her salary from $18,000 to $35,000! She took advantage of our financial training programs, increased her credit score by 32 points, and established an emergency fund of $600.

In the months to come, we’ll be sharing your impact in 2019. Life change, like what you just accomplished through your work with H.O.P.E, Inc., is not something to take lightly. Ten lives were changed just last year because of you, and in 2020 seven more graduates will walk across the stage due to your continued support!

So, as I wait for my bundle of joy, I hope that you are filled with joy. The joy of knowing that you not only changed one life last year but ten and you have seven more to impact this year!

Sincerely,

Kenita Smith, BBA, MBA, MA
President/CEO & Founder
H.O.P.E, Inc.

I know that your inbox has been overwhelmed with Cyber Monday deals and now Giving Tuesday ask. I understand how it can all be so overwhelming, but the day is almost over and you have already helped Destinee walk across that stage! Thank you for meeting our goal of $1,000!

Look at how you changed life for Bianca, and for the better. Instead of going from shelter to shelter, she has been in the same apartment for longer than a few months, she accomplished her long-time goal of graduating from college with her associate’s degree and will soon have her bachelors degree. She is working on her financial stability every day, making wise decisions and beating the odds. Take a look at her 60-minute story.

You gave her HOPE, but why stop there. We’re bringing on four more single parents and your continued support could change more lives. We have 8 more hours in the day to impact more single parents and double your gift. Let’s keep going by clicking here today,

Thank you in advance for believing in our single parents and being the help they need!

Sincerely,

Kenita Smith, BBA, MBA, MA
President/CEO & Founder
H.O.P.E, Inc.

P.S. We’re halfway there! Click here to help Destinee today!