Meet Our Moms

Kristen attended Burlington County College briefly after graduating from high school, but the arrival of her daughter re-focused her goals and the importance of education. "I wanted to give my daughter a better life," said Kristen, "and I wanted to get a degree and better myself." The Lauren Rose Albert Foundation Scholarship grant meant a great deal to Kristen, "It's been a big weight off of me. In fact, I'm not sure I would be able to graduate without this help."

Once upon a time, Nadine, a divorced mother of two sons, didn't have a home. Now she has graduated from Rowan University and thinking about attending graduate school. Getting to this point hasn't been easy - she's held as many as three jobs at a time, suffered a heart attack and watched her lifestyle take a dramatic turn when her marriage ended while she was earning her associate's degree. She's had a bit of help though, including financial assistance for her course load from...

Without her grant from the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation Lisa feels she would not have been able to finish her education at Gloucester County Community College. "I remember having to buy a particular book which was $175," Lisa says. "I thought, 'Oh my gosh, how am I going to pay for this?' I was just trying to survive financially from one semester to another. My goal was to take each semester as it came." The Foundation grant helped to alleviate a lot of the burden I would have had to endure if I had not been a recipient.

Two years ago, Sharon moved to New Jersey from Indiana during a period of extreme crisis in her life. She lost her job, she and her husband lost their house, their marriage ended and she suddenly found herself a single mother with a six month old son. Fortunately, she was able to move in with her mother until she could "get back on my feet again."

It was LaShara's young daughter who encouraged her to pursue her education. "She in second grade, she loves school and she's my backbone," she said. Mother and daughter often do their homework together. Currently enrolled at Cumberland County College and pursuing a degree in Social Work, LaShara also works full-time at the Woodbine Developmental Center.

"This semester has been the best experience of my whole life," Heather says, her enthusiasm contagious as she relates how she recently coached a first-time mother through labor and delivery and how the mother told her, "You are going to be a fabulous nurse." Her challenging schedule includes working full-time Monday through Friday at a landscaping company and after working all day, going straight to classes, labs and clinical rotations until 10 p.m. four nights a week.

Because both her daughters, Iiana, 8, and Ilexia, 4, suffer from major medical conditions, Amber was inspired to pursue a nursing career And they keep her determined to overcome the constant challenges she faces every day as a single mother with one daughter who is legally blind and one who suffers severe respiratory problems.

As a single mother to four-year-old twin boys, Bolivia has already overcome significant challenges in her young life. As she began her senior year in high school, her sons born prematurely at only 27 weeks gestation. Yet she still managed to remain in school and graduate with her class. Now she's enrolled full-time at Burlington County College.