About us

At Faith and Support Together, our mission is to empower impoverished individuals and communities by providing funds for scholarships, clean water initiatives, emergency medical needs, and more. We strive to connect faith-driven individuals in the U.S. with the unique needs of communities in developing countries, particularly in East Timor and Ghana. We strive to support marginalized people so they can live into their God-given calling and potential.

We provide essential support to students facing significant challenges, including orphans and those from low-income families, by offering educational scholarships for tuition, books, uniforms, and transportation. Since 2006, we have made a difference for impoverished students in East Timor and expanded our support to Ghana in 2022.

In addition to education, we contribute to community well-being through initiatives such as well-digging and urgent medical assistance, as identified by our partners in Ghana. Currently, we are raising funds to build a multipurpose center in Tom, Ghana, which will serve as a venue for Mass, catechism classes, educational programs, and community gatherings.

Faith and Support Together (FAST) is a small 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization (EIN #81-1541154) operated solely by volunteers.  Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. FAST was founded by Dawn Grabs and with a home office in Overland Park, KS. Learn more at faithandsupporttogether.org.

This scholarship fund began when co-founder Dawn Grabs was a missionary in East Timor from 2004 – 2006 with the Canossian Daughters of Charity. The Sisters run a boarding school and post-secondary training center for young women. In 2006 we began raising scholarship funds for students who otherwise could not continue in school. Through our own donations and those of a few friends, we have been consistently sending money to two teachers in East Timor who organize scholarships for the poorest students they meet.

In 2022 we started collaborating with Fr. Beyuo Kuukole (a missionary priest in Kansas City, KS). He connected us with some students in great need in Ghana and also some sponsors. We feel God paving the way for our organization to grow with these new connections and a broader donor base. We have also had the opportunity in Ghana to support the digging and building of four new in-ground wells in 2023, and we have helped several people with emergency medical needs. We plan to continue with wells and medical expenses, as we are able to, in addition to scholarships.

Giving students an opportunity to graduate from high school or college is very empowering—it really transforms their families and their society. A good education provides a better livelihood for an individual and their extended family, because they have potential to earn more money than a day

laborer. In addition, having more skilled and professional people in the community helps the development of the entire community, lifting even more people out of poverty.

East Timor and Ghana are both very poor and undeveloped. Both have a 70% illiteracy rate among adults. In East Timor, 42% of people live below the poverty line of $1.90 per day. In Ghana many people earn less than $5 per day. Both countries have large Catholic populations, and many young people. Over the past 14 years we’ve supported over 120 students, many of them for several years as they continued all the way through college.

By focusing on a small, manageable number of students and projects each year, we operate very efficiently, maximizing our impact with no overhead costs like those of a larger organization. We don’t have any paid staff, but instead rely a few dedicated volunteers to carry out our mission.