Client Stories

TaAni and Faith

TaAni Bush and Faith George are students who have benefitted from Hopelink's "Kids Need School Supplies" program, which provides backpacks and other items that students need to complete their schoolwork.

What sets Faith apart from TaAni, however, is that Faith is TaAni’s mom, and Faith is enrolled in community college.

TaAni’s backpack of school supplies from Hopelink included a few items TaAni (pronounced Tay-AH-nee) didn’t need for third grade, such as the three-ring binder that Faith was delighted to have.

“I’ve used the heck out of that thing,” Faith said. “I couldn’t stay organized in my classes without it.”

The family turned to Hopelink after Faith lost the retail supervisor job she had held for 10 years. She couldn’t find a job that would pay the household bills and came to Hopelink for help with school supplies, paying rent, gifts at holiday time and, occasionally, food from the food bank.

“I was a supervisor and trainer for a retailer and rotated working at five different stores,” Faith says. “I had seniority, so I could pick my shifts, and of course picked days. Then I was laid off. I didn’t have any computer skills so I couldn’t find a nine-to-five job that paid enough. Going back to retail was out because it’s too unpredictable. I have to be home for TaAni when she’s out of school, so I needed to figure out something different.”

Faith fortunately qualified for a WorkSource work-study program and that’s how she became a binder-needing college student. She enrolled at Shoreline Community College where she will ultimately earn a Medical Coding and Reimbursement Specialist certificate of proficiency. Faith will be able to do that work from home.

It is fitting that an education will help Faith and her family move forward. Faith said education wasn’t a big deal in her family when she was growing up, but she now knows education brings opportunities. “Every day when I see TaAni walking into that elementary school, I think ‘one of these days, she’ll walk out being able to do anything she wants to do because of an education,’” Faith said. “I want to make sure TaAni has more opportunities than I had. Hopelink has been a lifesaver, helping us with the tools we have to have in order to get a good education.”