Adelaide Cupid Foundation

The Adelaide Cupid Foundation is the vision of native Trinidad and Tobago, Stephanie Ferdinand, a successful entrepreneur, founder and chief executive of Ferdinand and Associates LLC., a business consulting and tax preparation firm in Brooklyn, NY. Ferdinand traces her desire to give back, and serve her community to her early years when she accompanied her mother, Adelaide Cupid, to deliver food her mother regularly prepared the seniors at an adult home in Penal, Trinidad. Following her mother's example, Ferdinand sought ways to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in her community, especially seniors and youth. In her adopted home of Brooklyn, Ferdinand has been a significant supporter and contributor to the Youth Empowerment Mission Inc. (YEM), YEM's mission is to give young people, real long-term alternatives to gangs, violence and delinquency that challenge their communities, while addressing the conditions that influence this self-destructive lifestyle. YEM offers various programs and services to young people that include educational support and advocacy, counseling and case management, leadership training, life and community survival skills, entrepreneurial and work-skills training, and community involvement. In 2008, Ferdinand's firm partnered with YEM to launch an internship and mentoring program for girls, ages 16 -19. Ferdinand's work also extended to meeting the needs of seniors. In 2006, in response to the need for affordable housing for seniors in the New York City area, Ferdinand and her firm became significant financial supporters for the Christian Action For Renewal And Development, Inc. (C.A.R.D.), a nonprofit whose mission is to serve seniors and youth in the New York area through the development of intergenerational programs in the areas of affordable housing, health care and education. Previously, Ferdinand served her country in the United States Army for seven years as a flight operations coordinator and a supply specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve. She received a certificate of achievement and good conduct medal upon her honorable discharge from the Army in 1990. Ferdinand holds a bachelor's of business administration in public accounting at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University in New York. Now, after years of working to improve her community and her country, Ferdinand established the Adelaide Cupid Foundation. Through the Foundation she hopes to make significant impact on the lives of the most vulnerable seniors and youth in her native Trinidad and Tobago by becoming "A Beacon of Hope for the Aged and Youth," through the Ferdinand and Gene-Phipps Complex. This multi-use facility, which will provide an affordable, home-like housing alternative for seniors who can no longer live on their own and require daily assistance, will be located in the heart of Trinidad and Tobago.