Lynn woman receives career success award

LYNN – Stephanie Christian was a single mom struggling to pay her rent and looking at eviction when she was accepted into the One Family Scholarship program. Now she has finished nursing school and is raising her daughter in an environment free of financial stress.Christian was presented with the Career Success Award at the annual Mothers of Inspiration Gala April 28. The award, sponsored by Delta Dental of Massachusetts, represents the excellence instilled in all of the One Family Scholars, success in college, career, finances and leadership.”When I got the scholarship it was the same time I had fallen three months behind on my rent because I was laid off. I got my acceptance letter the same day I got my two-week eviction notice,” Christian said. “I called and called until I reached someone at One Family Scholars and I finally got in touch with someone and she said to me to just calm down we will handle it on Monday. I was so freaked out. She told me to relax and the program saved me from being homeless.The mission of One Family is to end family homelessness by providing college scholarships to formerly homeless or at-risk mothers. Christian said the program was excellent for relieving her financial stress and helping her to go to school for nursing, but they were a great source of emotional support as well.”When I had originally started at school, right after I enrolled, I had issues with my daughter and found out that she had autism,” Christian said. “They were very supportive of me, 100 percent supportive of everything. It is so hard to put into words what they were to me because they were so important in every aspect of my life, whether it be financial or budget counseling or emotional support, someone to talk to. So many people in the program have been where the scholars have been and they have overcome it and have been successful and become incredible women.”As a One Family Scholar, Christian was able to stabilize her housing situation and enrolled full-time at Salem State College. In 2009 she graduated from the nursing program and she is a staff nurse at Spaulding Hospital Cambridge in the telemetry unit and also serves as a private nurse for a 3-year-old child with severe medical issues. When she found out that she won the award, she was elated.”I couldn’t believe it,” Christian said. “I was totally humbled. It was funny because they called out of the blue, asked me a couple of questions and said I was nominated for the award. I couldn’t imagine what I deserved an award for. I should be giving them an award every day. It was amazing. It is hard to even put it into words. I was just so happy. I felt so appreciated by them.”She said now that she is finally settling in and everything is in order, a huge load has been lifted. She can pay her bills without worrying and said being able to afford all of life’s expenses feels good. She also mentioned the only thing that could make life any better would be if she got a car.”One Family is amazing and the whole world should know about them,” Christian said. “There are a hundred girls just like me in the same situation. They make you want to be responsible and they don’t tolerate anything less. They ask what you will do to do great things and how you will make it happen for yourself. It is not an entitlement, you have to work for it. They give you an incentive and you feel good about yourself. Its a win-win situation.”Christian said she could not have done it without the help of her mother, who she said is amazing and deserves big props.For more information about One Family and the scholar program, visit http://onefamilyinc.org