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Fund in memory of murdered student to provide scholarship
YOUNGSTOWN
The Brandy Stevens-Rosine Memorial Fund will reach its first milestone today.
The fund was created to honor Stevens-Rosine, 20, of Beaver Township, who was murdered in May. A $2,500 check will be given today to Youngstown State University, where Stevens-Rosine was enrolled, for a memorial bench outside of Kilcawley Center.
Carrie Rosine started the fund named for her daughter with Krysti Horvat, a friend of Stevens-Rosine.
“I think it’s a healing process for me as it is for any parent going through having a child who was murdered. ... My first step of healing and helping me grieve is keeping her memory alive,” Rosine said.
The fund will be used to plant a memorial tree at YSU and create a scholarship for Boardman High School graduates. Rosine also intends to funnel money from the fund to nonprofit organizations that benefit victims of violent crime and Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, which founded Nonviolence Week in Youngstown.
Rosine took part in this year’s Nonviolence Parade and Rally and said she supports it and wants to be a resource for others.
“I can be an advocate for them ... rather than having someone have a fight and turn it physical and into violence. That’s not right, and it needs to change. Being an advocate will help me [through] this because my daughter’s murder was very brutal and violent,” she said.
Donations can be made to the Brandy Stevens-Rosine Memorial Fund at any Huntington Bank branch.