43
Ursuline valedictorian uses graduation money to help local charity
YOUNGSTOWN
While many high-school graduates look forward to receiving hundreds or even thousands of dollars as graduation gifts from friends and relatives, Zachary Schmetterer, Ursuline High School’s 2014 valedictorian, instead looked forward to raising money for a local charity after requesting that people make donations to Beatitude House in lieu of giving him a graduation present.
“Around the time I was graduating, I had a lot of academic success, and I was going off to a good school. And reflecting on that, I didn’t want the success to just be about me,” Schmetterer, 18, of Canfield, said. “I felt like I really need to be giving back to my community before I leave for four years.”
On the invitation to his graduation party, Schmetterer, who will attend Cornell University, asked that people give money to Beatitude House, a local organization that helps homeless women and children. To date, Schmetterer’s request has generated about $5,300 in donations to the organization.
Started in 1991 by Ursuline Sister Margaret Scheetz, Beatitude House provides transitional housing for displaced women and children in the area, helps them relocate to permanent homes and provides them with other support services such as counseling. The organization also provides permanent supportive housing to homeless women who have disabilities.
Schmetterer was inspired to give back to his community by some of his past involvement, such as working for U.S. Rep Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, last summer.
“Seeing the things that went down at Tim Ryan’s office and looking at other organizations such as Iron Roots Farm ... and seeing how everyone is revitalizing the city, and all the progress that’s being made in Youngstown, I really wanted to become part of the movement and make some significant change,” Schmetterer said. “I felt like using the money, that instead would go to me, and donating it to charity for my graduation party would be a great way to substantiate that change.”
Schmetterer chose to raise funds for Beatitude House because of its local focus and because he was already familiar with it because it is sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown. He learned about the charity in his religion class, he said.
“Giving to the Beatitude House, which is a very local charity, instead of some multibillion-dollar charity — every dollar counts, and every dollar makes an impact,” Schmetterer said. “So I feel like that really makes a positive change in the community, [and] it benefits many displaced women and children.”
The organization has grown over the years, and serves people in Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties, according to development associate Rachael Hernan. There is a total of 35 transitional apartments — 13 in Warren, 12 in Youngstown and 10 in Ashtabula — and 28 permanent supportive housing units, as well as 12 additional permanent units in Warren that are managed in collaboration with the YWCA and Coleman Professional Health.
“All of these apartments are full. We are on a wait list regularly,” Hernan said, adding that the organization provides services to about 450 people per year, and houses about 100 people at any given time.
Beatitude House has a very high success rate in helping women find permanent housing, said Hernan.
“For the most part, when they come to us, they have been homeless for a long time and are ready to make changes in their life and find something better for their families,” she said. “Our goal for the women who come through ... is that when they leave us, they find permanent housing. Typically 80 to 90 percent of women who graduate from our program move on to permanent housing.”
As for the money raised on behalf of Schmetterer, “It’s just going to go toward our greatest need,” Hernan said.
She said some of it will likely go toward buying back-to-school supplies for children.
“It was just so impressive for such a young person to come up with [this],” Hernan said. “That money is going to make such a great impact on the families living with us.”