HOPE Fund - Success Stories

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Bianca Davis, HOPE Fund Success Story

Best friends, Angela Haynes and Brandi Yoder of Shreve, are changing their earning power. With help from instructor Sara Fox and a GED Test Scholarship from the HOPE Fund, they quickly sailed through ABLE classes in Wooster to get their GED’s. By January they were on to their next big career move – Associate Degrees in Medical Assisting. In June, with a semester of college completed at Brown Mackie College, they received the very special honor of induction into the National Adult Education Honor Society! With renewed self-confidence, Angela and Brandi are moving ahead with their careers and setting a positive example for their children.

When Kathleen Keplar, a machine operator at Sonoco in Orrville, found out her factory was closing, she saw it as an opportunity to begin a new career! She took initiative and enrolled in the Career Center’s Medical Office Specialist with Billing & Coding Program. But, her initiative didn’t stop there. When she didn’t have money for gas to get to school, she turned to the HOPE Fund for the help she needed — an Emergency Gas Voucher, a no-interest loan she later repaid. She graduated with 96% attendance and Academic Excellence after completing a Medical Records Externship at Wadsworth Rittman Hospital. As a student, she joined the American Association of Professional Coders where she met her soon-to-be employer, the Office Manager of Ontario Medical Associates in Mansfield. Within a month of finishing her training, she achieved her goal—successfully working in her new medical career.

Fund Meets Local Employment Needs

GED Test Scholarships
When state funding was cut for GED test fees, the HOPE Fund stepped in to fill the gap. In 2010 the HOPE Fund began awarding GED Test Scholarships to ABLE students achieving a high level of success, who couldn’t afford the test fee. Two-thirds of ABLE's students qualify with nearly 100% success rate for those who test! Funding for this initiative is provided by a grant from the Wayne County Community Foundation with matching money from Westminster Presbyterian Church.

"Thanks to my instructors and the HOPE Fund, I got my GED and I'm on the way to employment and a better education in the near future." – CJ Laing, GED Graduate, Rittman ABLE

Emergency Gas Vouchers
When there is no money left to buy gasoline, it is really hard to get to career training, especially when you live a long distance from school. Because attendance is required for successful completion, Adult Education at the Career Center, with the help of the HOPE Fund, began awarding emergency gas vouchers to career training students in good standing. Emergency gas vouchers are “micro-loans” that can be repaid in cash or service. Thanks to this safety-net program, all those receiving emergency gas vouchers have graduated or are still enrolled.

Emergency Book Loans
When a student begins classes without required textbooks, they are at a learning disadvantage. This often happens when their financial aid is received after classes begin. To solve this problem, Wayne College, with the help of the HOPE Fund, can provide Emergency Book Loans. A qualifying student is given a voucher to use at Wayne College Bookstore. They repay their loan when they receive their financial aid award—making the fund sustainable so others can get Emergency Book Loans in the future.

HOPE Fund
Lee Peart, Chair
PO Box 190,
Burbank, Ohio 44214
330-624-7506
info@hopefundwayne.org

Wayne County
Common Good, Inc.

©2010 Wayne County Common Good.