Rick

My earliest memories of Brighton Center came when I was a small child. Growing up, money was continuously an issue because I lived in a low-income household.

This was especially a concern for my parents when it came to the holidays. Paying the bills was always the major focal point and things like presents had to come second. The annual toy drive was my earliest memory of how Brighton Center had impacted my life. The toy drive allowed me and my siblings to pick out toys to open on Christmas morning. My parents did their best to give us everything we wanted around Christmas time but with four children and bills, it became difficult. The excitement I would get before and after the toy drive is indescribable to say the least.

Life before Brighton Center was hard at points and filled with unanswered questions. As a low-income family utilizing government assisted programs like EBT, you realize they don’t last the entire month. My family would run out of money for food with a week or more left in a month. At this point we would turn to Brighton Center for assistance. I would help my mother carry the food home and be grateful that it’s one less thing we would have to stress about that month.

There were many obstacles I had to overcome growing up. The constant moving, the many different schools I had to go to, being homeless, and then spending a year in foster care. Struggling with my home life affected my participation in school. There was a point where the stress of home life coupled with high school made it difficult for me to even want to go to school. This caused my GPA to decline almost below college acceptance levels. One thing I knew though is that I wanted to go to college. I knew I had to step my game up after taking summer school my sophomore year. I started taking honors classes my junior year, raised my GPA and by my senior year I was accepted into NKU, where I was gifted the Jean Brown Scholarship.

One thing I am most proud of is the opportunity to be given this scholarship, and represent them at NKU. I do feel that I am an extension of Brighton Center because of all the help they have given me throughout my early childhood and even to this day. I’m most proud to say that I am involved with Brighton Center because the lives, just like mine, that this place has drastically changed for the better.