OUR STORIES
The Foundation of CareThe Heart & History of Frontier Horizon
Eugene Rosini grew up in Brooklyn and remained in his beloved community for all his days. He married his high school sweetheart, June in 1954 and soon thereafter added two children, Vincent, and Joanne to their clan. They were a traditional Italian family that valued hard work, good food, enthusiastic debate, and family. At the age of 25, Eugene joined the NYPD and spent his entire professional life serving his community in this capacity. Vincent, who would go on to secure his PhD, and found Frontier Horizon in 2001, recalls his childhood with great fondness and a bit of hilarity. “I love you” may have never been uttered in his family home, but its qualities were demonstrated in a thousand ways throughout Vincent’s formative years. Dr. Rosini loves to tell the story of the day he said to his father, “Dad, you have never told me that you love me, but I know that you love me so much that you would take a bullet for me.” With a bit of a chuckle Dr. Rosini continues, “my dad looked at me and said, ‘you’re a smart kid’, and walked away.” Dr. Rosini, affectionately known by his friends as Vinny, never drifted far from the axiom, embodied by his father, that actions speak louder than words.
As a typical young adult in the late 60’s and early 70’s Vinny was not immune from the many indulgences of the era. Eager to make new friends, see the world, and serve his country, he enlisted in the Marines. He served honorably until his discharge in 1977. Vinny’s life was deeply impacted by the people and experiences he had while serving as a Marine. It was during this time that his faith became his own and began to compel him to live his life for something more than his own personal gain. In 1991 he would go on mission trip to Nicaragua that would shape his life and work in profound ways. What he witnessed among the impoverished people he visited was hard to imagine and impossible to forget. Many more trips would follow, leading to a lifetime of service focused on bridging the gap between the poor and those in a position to help.
A Compulsion to Serve
Dr. Rosini's Words from a Recent Interview
“In spite of the amount of time spent there, I still cannot get used to the level of poverty in which these children live. Malnutrition, rats nibbling at their feet while they sleep, filthy, unsanitary bathrooms, and a life of sheer boredom without finances to incorporate social activities – these are all unfortunate realities of the kids’ lives today. I think of children in America with healthy lives and loving families and the constant reality that children down there have neither. Yet, for me, these kids are not statistics. When I look into the eyes of ten-year-old Rebecca and she looks back at me with her bright beautiful smile, I am convinced I could not love her anymore if she was my own child. I often think of eleven-year-old Andre in Ukraine whose mother committed suicide and father abandoned him in the orphanage and wish there was a way to take away his pain and loneliness… I am often overwhelmed by my inability to meet so much need, like my work was only applying a ‘Band-Aid to a bullet hole’. I’ve got my finger in the dike of a world of suffering and dying and I don’t know what to do about it. I’m often simply overwhelmed by needs of these children, but I’ve got to do something. Frontier Horizon was created with this goal in mind. Alleviating some of this suffering is the hope and the dream behind Frontier Horizon”.
An Ophan Hosting Story
Traughber Family
On our first date in 2006, my husband and I revealed to each other that we both felt it was our purpose in life to adopt children. Maybe not the most common topic on a first date, but it set the stage for the journey our family would take so many years later. would take so many years later.
Hosting D
Vought Family
On our first date in 2006, my husband and I revealed to each other that we both felt it was our purpose in life to adopt children. Maybe not the most common topic on a first date, but it set the stage for the journey our family would take so many years later. would take so many years later.
Ukrainian Hosted Child
Oksana Gregory
My name is Oksana Gregory. I was a host child. I was in a orphanage for a year at that time and many of my friends had gotten a chance to go and see another country and be hosted. I began praying and hoping that God would give me an opportunity just like he gave them.
Adoption Story
Lesya
My adopted daughter Lesya is, by far, the greatest gift of my life, a gift that I never expected. I learned of Frontier Horizon through some local friends who had hosted a child… and my journey began. I chose to hosted two girls over the summer. While the experience was positive and amazing in so many ways, there was another little girl who I had originally chosen to host.
Hosting & Haircuts
Dalbe & Brian M.
So our family story began with a haircut, seriously; it was a 9yr old little girl visiting from Ukraine through Frontier Horizon. My husband and I own a hair salon and naturally when a friend mentioned this program, I offered to do a free haircut for an orphan from Ukraine.
Little did I know how much my life would change from that moment on.
Hosting from Ukraine
KT Bronson
It all started one day when my phone rang. It was a pastor from my church and he was telling me that there was a group of orphans coming from Ukraine in a couple months and would I be interested in hosting a 12 y/o boy? That was the day I learned about “Frontier Horizon”. Well, I said I would get back to him. We had 3 biological sons and one was also 12.