Life as a teenager was a little tougher than most for Colorado ETV student Jennifer L. She spent half her life in foster care after the death of her mother at age 12, and as the youngest of three children, was the first to graduate from high school.

OFA met Jennifer in 2005, as a first year college student. In the past five years, she’s worked her way to two Associates degrees – General Studies and Applied Science in Criminal Justice, with three mini certificates. She’s working, volunteering, and in her free time, the avowed animal lover cares for her six cats, two tarantulas, two salamanders, three fish, one frog and one turtle.

Through OFA, Jennifer received OFA Care Packages every semester, and one on one support with her ETV Coordinators. Every one of us at OFA is so proud of Jennifer and what’s she’s accomplished in the years we’ve known her!

OFA recently received this letter from Jennifer:

I just wanted to let you all know what a blessing the ETV program has been for me. Being the first person in my family to go to college has been a real treat. I appreciate all the support and the financial assistance you have offered me. Working part time and going to school can make it a challenge to pay the bills. ETV has helped me pay rent, repair my vehicle, purchase school clothes, keep food in the house, and be a little more worry free. As a college student, I often worry about how I am going to pay next month’s rent. It was such a blessing to receive funds to help me. I was able to save and budget out for all my bills. It has been so nice being able to pay all my monthly bills.

I wanted to share my goals and let you know how I know I can achieve them. I will graduate April 30, 2010 with an Associates of General Studies. After Summer semester I will graduate with my Associates of Applied Science in Criminal Justice with three mini certificates. I am very proud to have achieved two Associate degrees. I am currently volunteering at the Canon City Police Department, and hope to one day work there. I was, and am able to complete my goals and become an asset to my community from the support and dedication from the ETV Program. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. God Bless you all and once again thank you for believing in me! It is so encouraging to have someone you know you can count on. Thank you!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 4:30 pm by Orphan Foundation of America and is filed under A Foster Care to Success Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.