Today we’d like to introduce you to Lottia Fredo.
Relay was officially started in January 2017 after many years of our founder, Lottia, unofficially helping students and families in the DFW area. Lottia has been in higher education for over 20 years and has worked at multiple institutions. Currently, she is the Senior Student Financial Operations Specialist and Director of Financial Literacy at Southern Methodist University (SMU).
Our founder decided it was time to make the organization official when she met a student in the parking lot of a local grocery store. Lottia was wearing a shirt from SMU and the student commented that she would love the opportunity to go to a college like SMU. While the young lady assisted Lottia to the car with her groceries, they began an interesting conversation. The young lady was a first-generation student and no one in her family had graduated from high school. The student communicated that the goal to graduate high school alone was an overwhelming accomplishment. She felt a sense of embarrassment for her family to even come to the graduation ceremony because she did not want to make it seem like she was better. Lottia encouraged the student to not only attend her high school graduation but to also consider going to college. Lottia advised that pursuing her dreams was one of the greatest accomplishments she could ever do, and her family would be more than proud to support her.
Their conversation was so engaging that the store manager had to come and retrieve the young lady from the parking lot. Lottia shared her contact information so they could work together and begin the process.
The student contacted Lottia who began mentoring her for the college process. The student attended her high school graduation with her family present to cheer her on and is now entering her Junior year at a local college in Dallas.
Lottia sat in her car thankful yet frustrated that yet another student did not know how to achieve their dreams of higher education. That is the night Relay was born! Together with Deanna Pickney former Relay President, Monica Rouseau Relay’s current President, and countless others who serve on the Relay Board, we began doing presentations at a local high school, churches, and community organizations to begin the process of getting Relay’s name out and expand the mission.
Without any delay, Lottia proceeded to prepare all the required paperwork submitted to become a 501 (c)3 organization. At the same time, she established a Board and volunteers with the same passion for students and families. Relay travels throughout DFW and other areas encouraging, motivating, and building families in their goals for college readiness, financial literacy and scholarships.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road being a new organization in a large metroplex like DFW. However, for every obstacle, it created an opportunity for us to grow and be creative in how we administer our program to families. We’ve been able to create some great partnerships, and this has helped us to reach more families with our mission. It’s great once students and families come to a workshop, they get excited and understand that the conversation is important and the earlier the better.
We have also found some struggles in finding funding and winning grants geared toward smaller/start-up organizations. We initially won a seed grant that assisted us in setting up our 501 c (3) and other needed items. We will continue to fundraise and apply for grants because we believe in what we do as an organization and making an impact is what’s important. Although our workshops are primarily geared to serve under-served students and families who do not have access to equitable resources in the academic pipeline, we will get a lot of requests from families that are considered middle class. We are excited to offer our services to all students and families. Funding helps us to provide the workshops for free although the expense is still a reality for the organization.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Scholarship Consulting – Assist students in finding target scholarships for their selected talent and skills. We assist students as early as an elementary school in their goals to find funding for higher education. Providing fun insights and tools for individuals, families, and organizations to gain access to millions of dollars earmarked for higher education.
Workshops – There are multiple workshops for communities, churches, organizations, and other entities to strengthen the college preparation process. Workshops can be customized to the needs of our clients. We specialize in workshops that teach the following subjects: FAFSA, College Readiness, Scholarships, and Budgeting. Workshops can be hosted in person or via webinar.
Coaching – Relay will assist a student and their families in the navigation of the higher education process through tutorials, e-books, and one on one meetings to strengthen the college process.
Scholarship Program – Each year Relay HTLT will award deserving students with a scholarship. One student will be selected from each of the following categories: Elementary, Middle and High School. The scholarship can be used toward the expense to enhance their educational goals. These scholarships are awarded based on an application process or an essay submitted by the student regarding a predetermined topic. Our goal is to open a dialogue and discussion among families toward the enhancement of financial knowledge.
Financial Literacy – Personal financial literacy is more than just being able to balance a checkbook, compare prices or get a job. It also includes skills like long-term vision and planning, and the discipline to use those skills every day. Relay will demonstrate the fundamentals needed through hands-on activities and computer-based programming.
We are known for awarding scholarships for K-Adults. We believe and teach to start the college savings process early. We know many scholarships are geared towards high school seniors and continuing college students. However, we recognize there are educational expenses that are challenging for a family, well before the high school years. We also recognize that there are adults needing scholarships and guidance.
Although we can’t cover all the expenses, the little help that we provide through our scholarships is monumental. As a young organization with no major grant or another financial backing, we’ve been able to give away six scholarships. Our most significant to date is a $1,000 scholarship awarded to an adult student for attending one of our workshops. He plans to take the award and start a college savings plan for his young son. He was inspired by our workshop to plan for his son’s future and to find scholarship opportunities at a young age. Our goal is to continue to award scholarships for educational expenses. We have assisted multiple families to send their students off to college with a plan to be either debt-free or to borrow minimum student loans.
We have a payment structure for our services, but the reality is that we offer many of our services for free when able. We try to get sponsors to pay for a workshop or to cover the expense of a consultation. This way family that is unable to afford our services can still take advantage of the benefits and never made to feel that they cannot have access because of the fees.
We have several people that serve on our board that either work in higher education or debt management and this offers a unique experience for our families. Relay does not focus on promoting any institution; whether private, public, or community but our focus is on building a better student and family regarding college readiness, financial literacy and scholarships.
What were you like growing up?
I was born and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. I am the youngest and only girl of my mom’s three children. Having two big brothers was awesome but also created some crazy and fun memories. I was a tomboy for a few years because my two big brothers are amazing, and I wanted to experience the world through their eyes. I also have other siblings that are older than me from my father and it’s been great spending the past year connecting with my big sister. My father had a total of 6 children, and I am still the youngest girl.
Growing up I always wanted to be a lawyer. I found it interesting how the law worked plus my favorite tv show was the Cosby’s. Watching Clair Huxtable dress up every day and go into the world as a strong woman meant a lot to me. My mom also worked in a law firm and I loved hanging out at the office and watching her as a legal secretary was very inspiring. I was always concerned about others’ well-being and how I could give back or help. I spent my summers working at my father’s restaurant as a young girl, there was not much room for me to just rip and run with my friends or my brothers. My brothers are also older, so it made sense for me to tag along with my dad to work during the summers. When I no longer wanted to smell like shrimp all day I started volunteering for United Way, my church, and school. I was able to discover a full world of people and interest to help give back. My favorite memory is visiting with the elderly and learning about their families. We even created a cookbook from all the people we visited with, the book included recipes of homemade tomato sauce, homemade bread, and blueberry pie. Ultimately, I did not go to college to be a lawyer but chose education. I think education is what always made sense based on my personality and my genuine interest in seeing people especially those younger than me, win!
Neither of my parents went to traditional college and this was evident when it was time for us kids to go. My eldest brother got a full-ride scholarship for playing football. Therefore, there was not a lot of discussion about financial aid. My parents encouraged me and prayed for me to reach my goals, but I grew up with the concept you graduate from high school and you, “go away” for college. When it was decided I would go to a small college in California, PA, I was not the happiest attendee. My parents were unable to give much guidance and I made a lot of poor decisions when it came to be taking out student loans and how I approached the overall college experience. I liked college but learning to become a teacher did not seem to fully fit with my personality. I enjoyed my psychology classes more than the education classes. It took me 5 years of many failures to get through the undergraduate process only to not be fully satisfied with the results. I did, however, attend Bible School for a couple of years towards the end of my undergraduate experience and it helped to re-ground me and restore my faith and purpose.
I took on a lot of student loan debt and now I had to navigate the world with a low paying job and a lot of debt. I’m forever thankful that life brought me full circle to help other students. Growing up I would have never thought that I would have founded a nonprofit and working at Universities. However, when you find your destiny it’s best to embrace it and stand in it!
My first full-time job was at Sawyer Business College in Pittsburgh, PA in the call center. I would call high school students to come and tour the school. Because I showed initiatives and did well, the manager who later became my best friend helped mentor me in higher education and fostered many promotions and opportunities that came my way. She saw something in me that I lost sight of when attending college. My hopes and dreams as a little girl came to the forefront and I realized for the first time in a long time I was right to choose education it was just not the format in which I thought.
My friends and family describe me as being sensitive, passionate, vibrant, kindhearted, compassionate, shy but willing to step outside of my bubble to engage the world, giving and always trying to help others.
Pricing:
- Scholarship Tool Kit $20.00
- Customized Workshops Prices Vary $125-$750
- One on One Consultation $150.00
- Guest Speaker $300
- Phone or In-Person Consultation for 30 minutes – Free
- Institution Consultation Prices Vary
Contact Info:
- Website: www.RelayHeroes.com
- Phone: 469-718-9787
- Email: info@relayheroes.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/inforelayhtlt
- Facebook: facebook.com/RelayHTLT
- Twitter: @RelayHTLT
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