ABOUT US
Love Forward is helping to break generational cycles of abuse and poverty by providing a higher education and individualized support for those most marginalized in our global community.
OUR IMPACT
Love Forward seeks to help those abandoned, abused, or orphaned because we’ve been there ourselves. Our approach is a personal one focused on investment in individual lives.
WHERE WE WORK & OUR PARTNERS
Love Forward currently operates in Nicaragua, the Philippines, and India, and we are planning to start a new program in Afghanistan. We concentrate on the successful transition of students out of orphanages and other residential settings, with a specific focus on providing a higher education during this transition. We accomplish this by walking alongside the students and providing individualized support while they learn to live independently, complete their education, and navigate this critical period in their lives.
We cannot accomplish this alone. In each country, Love Forward collaborates with local organizations that have previously cared for the students and refer them to our program. They may be orphanages, children’s homes, crisis centers, community programs, human trafficking organizations, or churches. But they have one thing in common—they already know the student and have an existing relationship with them. While Love Forward provides funding for the student to live independently and attend college, we also partner with the referring organization to provide ongoing support and mentoring, collaborating and investing together in each student’s success.
GLOBAL GENDER ISSUES
At least one in three women experience physical or sexual assault in their lifetimes, according to the UN. Moreover, USAID estimates that 62 million girls are out of school. Lack of access to education, extreme poverty, a lack of economic opportunities, cultural gender bias, and gender-based violence often act as a toxic combination that negatively influences upward mobility for young women around the globe. And few, if any, demographic groups are hit harder by these influences than young women aging out of orphanages, who come from backgrounds of poverty and abuse and have no family to support them in transitioning to their adult lives.
The intersection of violence and gender limits access to education. At the same time, a higher education can lead to a better future by providing a pathway to financial independence and self-sufficiency, which correlates with a lower incidence of abuse. These issues are complex and demand more of our attention.
Learn about the relationship between education and gender-based violence >
MEET OUR STUDENTS
The students we currently sponsor in Nicaragua, the Philippines, and India have incredible stories. Their lives are rooted in the most difficult circumstances, but they dream of a better future and are filled with vision and hope. They are an inspiration to us and to everyone who knows them.
A few of the students have offered to share portions of their stories, together with their reflections on the importance of a higher education to reaching their goals.
Read a few of the students’ inspiring stories >