In loving memory of our founder:
Robin Thomasa Vantrease
1959 - 2007
Our Beginning
2000-2008
Family Tree- New Beginnings evolved in North Carolina in 2000, as a memorial scholarship foundation, with the founding premise of "Making Steps Towards Better Tomorrows--Today." Family Tree's mission in its inception was to provide emotional and financial support to underprivileged youth, who had been faced with the adversity of losing a parent.
The root of the organization stemmed from traumatic experiences the founder, Robin Vantrease encountered due to the loss of loved ones. As a young adult, on various occasions Robin returned home to Chicago, from North Carolina where her husband was stationed, to find that another loved one was gone. A specific incident that had a great impact on Robin and her family, was the death of a close friend, who was only in her twenties. She was killed by her boyfriend, several months after giving birth to their son. Following this incident the young boy's father was murdered. His family members were obliged to nurture him, although his history posed additional challenges. Several years later, in an effort to also remember loved ones that had passed away, Family Tree-New Beginnings, memorial scholarship foundation was born.
Loosing a parent is naturally a devastating experience, but being stripped of parental guidance and financial support in a child's adolescence has the ability to put them at a crippling disadvantage and hinder their development and success. For this reason, Family Tree focused on providing a series of scholarships to youth in grades K-12, who lost parents or guardians. These efforts were focused in the North Carolina region and fundraisers such as walks, bake sales, banquets, concerts and other events were held to get community members involved in supporting the organization's mission of assisting to further education.
New Beginnings
2008 & Beyond
Family Tree has continued to focus on scholarly development and community involvement, but the organization has developed a broader purpose of not only affecting the lives of individual families, but changing the landscape of entire impoverished communities. The home of the organization is now in Chicago, where minority communities battle the highest unemployment rates in the nation, the highest saturations of abandoned properties and vacant lots, and these neighborhoods are also stricken with food deserts. Our new Housing and Incubator initiative will address each of these issues, and turn these deficiencies into opportunity for minority young adults.
Read more about the Initiative >>