When Alberta Ablordeppey arrived in the United States from Ghana in 2012 to attend college, she saw America as a land of opportunity. But after settling in Butler County, she discovered another reality: some families in her new community were struggling.
One encounter in particular stays with her. At a local grocery store, a young girl approached Alberta asking for a quarter. When Alberta asked why she needed the money, the girl explained that her family was sleeping in their car.
“I didn’t—I couldn’t—solve their problem,” Alberta says, “but I went across the street and got them some food.”
That act of kindness multiplied into Highly Favored Foundation, the nonprofit Alberta established in 2020. Its mission is straightforward: help families move from crisis toward stability. She quickly learned that many family resources are available throughout our community; the challenge was helping families find them.
“When families are in crisis, they don’t often know those resources exist, and sometimes don’t even know where to start,” she says.
That realization led to the foundation’s HOPE Corner program, which provides families with essential items while connecting them with necessary resources. The program operates through community partnerships, including hubs at the Fairfield YMCA and Serve City, a shelter in Hamilton.
"Some families are forced to choose between paying rent and buying diapers, hygiene products or laundry supplies—many of these essentials are not covered by SNAP benefits,” Alberta explains. “HOPE Corner helps relieve that immediate pressure while connecting families with additional resources, preventing a short-term hardship from becoming a larger crisis, including housing instability or homelessness.”
“The supplies may be what brings someone through the door, but the connection is so important to us to help them move forward,” she adds.
Highly Favored Foundation also offers a 72-hour Safe Haven crisis response program for families experiencing homelessness or housing instability. When a family suddenly has nowhere safe to stay, the program provides temporary accommodations while Alberta and her team of volunteers work to find longer term assistance.
Through a new Hope Laundry Access pilot program, Highly Favored Foundation gives laundry supplies and quarters for coin-operated washing machines to unhoused students. In partnership with the Butler County Educational Service Center and Butler County Family and Children First Council, the program is about more than clean clothes.
“Not having clean clothes affects your confidence and dignity,” Alberta says. “Sometimes making someone’s life just a little more stable begins with something very practical.”
That philosophy is at the heart of Alberta’s mission.
“I am so honored to let these people know that they are not alone,” she says. “You are valued, you are seen and someone cares.”
The foundation has grown into a community-supported organization with dedicated volunteers, monthly donors and partnerships throughout Butler County.
“I want us to be able to get to that point where we are building a stronger safety net so fewer families have to face a crisis alone,” she says.
Alberta’s message is simple: small acts can make a big difference. The community is invited to take action—volunteer, donate basic-needs items, organize a hygiene or laundry-supply drive, become a monthly supporter or connect the foundation with other valuable community resources.
At the Highly Favored Foundation, a smile, quarter, meal or helping hand can make a life-changing impact.
“It doesn’t take a whole lot,” Alberta says, “Some of the things we take for granted, other people lack. You just have to be willing to be part of the solution.”
Save the date for Highly Favored Foundation’s second annual gala, scheduled for April 17, 2027, at Fairfield Receptions.
Highly Favored Foundation | info@highlyfavoredf.com | HighlyFavoredF.com