Many different paths lead women to Many Hands. For Catherine Foot, it was a walk through the Bethesda Farmers Market, where she came across a booth promoting community-based mentoring programs, including Generation Hope. Catherine, a former attorney, was taken with Generation Hope’s commitment to helping motivated teen parents thrive in college while preparing their children for kindergarten success. A crucial part of Generation Hope’s approach is to pair each of their Scholars with a mentor, based on research that shows that youth are five times more likely to graduate from college if they have a meaningful relationship with an adult. Catherine became that adult in Rebeca Alvarez’s life. Rebeca (pictured above) was smart and motivated, but overwhelmed: She was caring for her mother, who suffered from mental illness, and for her baby daughter Cesia, while trying to work and manage a full-time college load. According to Catherine, “What she needed was emotional support; to know that someone was on her side,” and Catherine filled that role. To learn more about Rebeca’s story and Catherine’s role in her success, click here to read Generation Hope’s Spring 2019 newsletter.
Through her work with Generation Hope, Catherine was inspired to do more to help women and children in socioeconomic need in the DC area. When a friend told her about Many Hands, it seemed like the perfect fit. Catherine joined Many Hands in 2019 and has served on the Education and Health Focus Area Committees. Meanwhile, Rebeca has graduated from Trinity Washington University, and in 2020, Generation Hope became a Many Hands Partner Grantee.
