Nico
For obvious reasons, “college was a very big step for us,” explained Linda Morales, Nicholas’ mom. Then there was the cost. “Any help was appreciated and helpful to relieve some of the burden.”
Nico’s family was thrilled to learn they would be awarded some scholarship monies from Educational Foundation For Independence (EFFI) to help defray the cost of College Living Experience (CLE), a college support program for alternative learners such as Nico. That really sweetened the deal last year when he was part of the CLE program in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Nico attended Nova Southeastern University on full academic scholarship.
The scholarship monies from EFFI helped make CLE a bit more affordable for the family.
But was it enough to make a difference/impact?
“Ohmigosh!” exclaimed Linda, “it’s like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. For his first 17 years, I was Nico’s CLE. It’s such a good feeling to know I wasn’t throwing him to the wolves by sending him off to college—CLE provides a strong safety net.”
Any parent sending a child off to college for the first time can certainly understand the feeling. Pile on some other issues of autism spectrum disorder and well, it’s a whole new ball of wax.
Nico’s mom went on to talk about how much “he’s grown and matured—and not just with school-related matters. I’ve seen strides in how he adjusts to new situations, his organizational skills and he even takes care of two cats.”
Identified at age 7 with special needs, our daughter Grace had always attend public school. Our public school system had always tried its very best to support her. But, by the end of middle school Grace was failing academically, socially, and was the victim of relentless peer bullying. It became clear that we needed to find a specialized program to meet her needs and rebuild her battered self-esteem. We found the perfect program at Humanex Academy. A private school where she could finally fit in, learn, and grow. As a family of 5 living on a single income, tuition became a large obstacle to get her into the school she so badly needed. Then we heard about EFFI. The Scholarship awarded did more than made her attendance at Humanex possible. It has given us new hope for our daughter and her future.