Tim Only was beaten down by a dangerous, dysfunctional childhood and overcame a suicide attempt to become senior class president and a member of the National Honor Society with dreams of becoming a lawyer. Marklyne Joachim is a first-generation college student with a passion for diversity and multicultural issues. The Children’s Home Society of Florida (CHS) Foundation is helping both students achieve their brighter futures.
Joachim and Only are graduates of Evans High School, a CHS community partnership school. They are among four statewide recipients of the Foundation’s 2017 Virginia Morey Rell Memorial Scholarship Fund that supports the post-secondary educational objectives of youth involved in programs operated by CHS. The scholarship was established by former CHS President and CEO David Bundy, who created the fund to honor the memory of his mother and her legacy of generosity as a foster parent, adoptive grandparent and through her support of many causes and organizations including CHS.
– Tim Only’s poignant scholarship essay paints a portrait of a hopeless young man with no father and no support from his mother who found inner courage to journey beyond the darkness. “I have learned how to love myself when nobody else cared to, and how to push myself further even when it felt like the weight of the world was on me. In the midst of my chaos, turmoil and despair, thoughts of a greater future began to form and have taken on a life of their own, creating a blueprint and a vision which I will use to create a beacon of hope out of the darkness. I face every new day working towards a better place, a better tomorrow.” He’s building his future now as a freshman at Tallahassee Community College.
– Marklyne Joachim is a sophomore at the University of Central Florida majoring in Radio and Television and Creative Writing with a minor in African Studies, and a multiple-year scholarship recipient. “This scholarship will help cover my living expenses and give me the chance to focus on what really matters: my education.” Upon graduation from UCF, she hopes to obtain a Master of Communications from Stanford University. Her goal is to work in the film or television industry to tell diverse stories to the masses.
“The scholarships provided through this endowment allow the legacy of Virginia Morey Rell to continue transforming the lives and futures of youth,” said Michael Shaver, CHS CEO. “Such generosity advances her mission – and ours – to build bridges to success for children.”
