Foundation for Focus House Scholarships

We have 2 awards this year, both for $1000:

The F. Lawrence Lenz Scholarship Fund was established in April, 2003 by his family following his death.  As an Ogle County Circuit Judge, Judge F. Lawrence Lenz elected to be the juvenile court Judge.  In his capacity as juvenile Judge, he was one of the instrumental supporters of the opening of Focus House in 1975.  From the bench he believed in the value of having community based programs and was an advocate of Focus House until his death.

The LaVerne & Margaret Franklin Adams Scholarship Fund was established in May of 2002 following Mr. Adam's death.  A longtime resident of Ogle County, Mr. LaVerne Adams sat on the Ogle County Board from 1972 until 2002.  At the time Focus House was established in 1975, Mr. Adams was appointed and served as the chairperson of the county committee that over saw the operation of the program.  Mrs. Margaret Franklin Adams was also very dedicated to our community and the youth at Focus House. Their family added to the scholarship in LaVerne's name when Margaret passed away in 2020, to honor the bequest she left. They both had a great commitment to the youth of Ogle County and theFocus House program.

Criteria:

• Applicant must be an Ogle County resident OR past/current Focus House resident from any county.
• Applicant must be a graduating high school senior OR already enrolled or in a post-secondary institution in the year of the award. All vocational programs will be considered
• Applicant must demonstrate a positive change they have caused in themselves or their community.