Having the Chance to Break Free from Expectations
Joy has always known she’s had the potential to break the cycle, but children’s home staff and donors have given her just the push she’s needed.
A Foundation for Success
Sometimes a house can take time to feel like a home, but once it feels like home, you know you’ll always be welcome. Jacob Goranson knows this feeling well.
Preparing for a Lifetime of Helping Others
If there’s one thing Leon Allen has tried to learn over the past six years, it’s to hold an appreciation for the opportunities he’s been given, despite the challenges he's faced.
Adjusting to Change
It’s a challenge to step outside of your comfort zone - to leave everything you know behind. When Jebbeh was only 10 years old, she did just that. Spending her early childhood years in center-city Philadelphia with her mother and two older sisters, Jebbeh didn’t know a life outside of her crowded school and hectic [...]
Lessons Learned for a Lifetime
Andre Dunbar-Smith, a 2014 children’s home graduate, values self-reflection. He’s constantly thinking of ways to improve his character, actions and motives in life. Andre credits the children’s home for this trait. “They teach you to look in the mirror at yourself and make yourself better,” Andre said. “You don’t have a mom and a dad, [...]
A Life Spent Helping Others
During her career as an ampoule operator for narcotics at McNeil Laboratories, Trudi Prath was famous for clearing the snow off of her coworkers’ cars in the winter.
Finding a Sense of Self
Rina is known among her friend group as “the jokester.” She loves to make people laugh and encourage them to just be in the moment. However, she hasn’t always been so generous with her humor or open to new friendships.
Making the Impossible, Possible
Melinda Tkacs moved around a lot as a child. She first lived with her father. He then left her with her aunt and uncle in California, and soon after, she went to live with her grandmother. When Melinda entered into high school, she didn’t think many educational opportunities were possible for her. College after graduation seemed at an even larger distance.
Dreaming Big While Having a “Ball”
Arthur, now age 24, is a 2014 Masonic Children’s Home alumnus and 2018 Bloomsburg University graduate. He currently works as an inside sales representative for the Philadelphia Union soccer team in Chester, Pennsylvania.