March/April 2015

Dear Friends of The Hope Center at Pullen:

This spring is an exciting one for us, as we are fortunate to be entering into into another challenge grant with The Steward's Fund, hosting our annual Raising Hope Gala on Thursday, May 14th, and of course continuing our daily work with young people aging out of foster care. We are now serving close to 100 young people between the ages of 13-24, helping them with their needs surrounding housing, education, employment, financial management, physical/mental health, and building a support network.

We hope you can take a moment to read about these exciting opportunities, successes and events, and look forward to seeing you in a few weeks at our Raising Hope Gala, which is going to be an evening to remember with a very special guest speaker, fantastic food, and plenty of unique silent auction items.

Happy Spring!

Stacy Bluth

Executive Director

The Hope Center at Pullen

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Highlight: Scholarship Fund

So much can happen in a year! Last year at this time, Monica, one of our participants, was graduating from Wake Tech. At about that same time, one of our donors was looking to set up a scholarship fund to help young people with a history in foster care, and we just so happened to have the right young person to match these donors with! Needless to say, the scholarship fund has been a tremendous success, as Monica is now enrolled at North Carolina Central University in the BRITE Program (Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise) and finishing her 2nd semester with all A's and B's.

Did you know that just 18-24% of young people aging out of foster care will attend a post-secondary institution or vocational training program, and of those, only 2-3% will go on to receive a two-year or four-year degree? Monica is beating the odds. "This scholarship has been an incredible opportunity for me" she says, "because it has given me the ability to focus on my studies rather than worry about how I will meet my basic needs."

If you are interested in contributing to a scholarship fund for one or more of our young people, please contact Stacy Bluth at sbluth@hopecenteratpullen.org.

The Steward's Fund Challenge Grant

We are so grateful to The Steward's Fund for granting us a challenge grant again this year! We are looking forward to meeting this challenge and furthering the financial stability of The Hope Center. Every new, increased or lapsed gift given during May 1st-July 31st counts towards this challenge, and if we raise $13,000 in new, increased or lapsed gifts by July 31st, The Steward's Fund will match these funds with an additional $13,000.

Let's do this together and meet this challenge! We hope you will consider a gift to The Hope Center. As you can appreciate, the timing of your gift is important--if you aren't sure when you last gave or what your donation amount was, please contact Stacy Bluth at sbluth@hopecenteratpullen.org or 919-322-2751 ext. 5. Thank you!