My name is Natasia, and I am a past Participant at Project Self-Sufficiency. I recently graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Prevention and Intervention Sciences from CSU.

I have one beautiful, smart and amazing daughter who is 8 years old named Liliana.

Deciding to go back to school

During my struggle with postpartum depression, and a very horrible separation, I reached out to an organization called Alternatives to Violence, and they referred me to Project Self-Sufficiency. Ever since that day, my life has been on a constant upward trajectory.

Deciding to go back to school was hard and I experienced many obstacles. Being a single parent, going back to school can be very stressful mentally and financially. The most significant obstacle I faced was when my car broke down. We were taking the city bus to and from school each day from Loveland to Fort Collins!

I could have easily quit school so that I could just work more to get a car but I qualified for the Project Self-Sufficiency Cars for Families program and received a donated car that allowed me to remain resilient and stay in school.

In addition, Project Self-Sufficiency gave me an annual scholarship to help fund any emergencies so I was very grateful for the many times the scholarship helped me, whether it was to help pay a portion of my rent, groceries, gas or heating bills.

There were many times where I felt like I didn’t belong in school or that I didn’t deserve to be successful. I struggled pretty badly with everything on my plate but I always had that emotional support and a bit of a push from my advisor to remind me what I’m worth. I had a lot of mental and emotional stress going to school and I’m the kind of person who needs reassurance regularly, and my Project Self-Sufficiency Advisor was always there for emotional support.

Graduation and Next Steps

After graduating from Project Self-Sufficiency, I had a goal to help as many people as I can and give back to my community in any way that I can. Because without the help from our community, I would not be where I am today.

After graduating I was helping the Child Advocacy Center write grants and I helped coordinate their Child abuse Prevention Programs. Shortly after, with the difficulties of COVID, I transitioned into a position in Financial Services as a field trainer, teaching middle and lower class families in my community about their finances.

Without the generosity from our community, many of these things would not be available for hard-working single parents like myself and I thank Project Self-Sufficiency and their donors and volunteers from the bottom of my heart for contributing to the success of single parents such as myself!