Estate commitment to enhance resources for students from foster care system

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Building on her early career advocacy on behalf of abused and neglected children, Penn State graduate Rosemary Katchmar has come forward with a $200,000 estate commitment that will benefit the Fostering Lions Program. The gift will bolster services and programming designed to improve postsecondary education outcomes for students entering the University from the foster care system, situations of homelessness or as emancipated minors.

“My first job as a social worker in child protective services opened my eyes to the needs of children in foster care, and in particular, their needs as they age out of the system,” said Katchmar. “The absence of engaged parents can lead to a cascade of effects that are difficult to mitigate, which is why I was so excited to learn about the safety net that’s been built through the Fostering Lions Program. For young people who have navigated life feeling invisible, this kind of support can be so life-altering.”

Katchmar’s endowment is designed to meet student needs in two main areas. The first entails individualized and periodic assessments of each student’s situation so that funds can be dispensed as appropriate to cover tuition, books, laptops, study abroad opportunities, childcare or other items that are essential for a successful collegiate experience. A second layer of support focuses on building community and belonging, which is primarily driven by a monthly seminar series that provides interactive lectures, skill-building exercises and advice for navigating the world after graduation.

“At a basic level, our mission is simply to ensure students from foster care backgrounds have the same opportunities as any other student,” said Cheri L. Hillard, coach for the Fostering Lions Program. “Their resilience and determination in the face of setbacks are what really inspire me to go to bat for them every day. But none of the work I do as a mentor and advocate would be possible without the incredible generosity of supporters. I am deeply grateful to Rosemary for her visionary leadership and for the extraordinary impact her gift will have in the years ahead.”

The Fostering Lions Program, housed in the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, was founded with seven inaugural participants in fall 2018. As of 2025, the program has 88 students, including one graduate student, enrolled at University Park and across the Commonwealth Campuses and has shepherded 41 students to graduation. 2025 also marked the largest incoming class, with 22 first-year students embarking on their Penn State experience, with the added support of the program.

Katchmar was born into the coal-mining town of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, to a family that had emigrated from the Lemko Region in the Carpathian Mountains of southeastern Poland, which was then part of Ukraine. Motivated by the women’s movement in the 1970s and an economic downturn brought about by the decline of the coal industry, Katchmar enrolled at Penn State Hazleton for two semesters before transitioning to University Park, where she supported herself on a patchwork of scholarships, grants, loans and work-study income. Alongside her studies, she worked as a Slavic Library Program transliterator at Pattee Library and became a member of the University Concert Committee, the Alpha Xi Delta sorority and the Ukrainian Club. When she graduated with a degree in social work in 1978, followed by a master’s degree from Temple University in 1980, she became the first woman in her immediate or extended family to earn a college degree.

After finishing her graduate work in just 10 months, Katchmar launched her career with a three-year stint in child welfare services. As she became increasingly convinced that drug and alcohol consumption are powerful catalysts for child abuse, she pivoted to facilitating substance use treatment programs and ultimately became an executive leader conducting seminars and trainings in workplace safety. For the final 14 years of her career, she served in the Federal Aviation Administration, where she provided leadership in aviation mental health and critical incident response, supporting workplace safety initiatives that advanced the FAA's mission to protect aviation professionals and the flying public.

Still, she often struggled to gauge whether she was making a difference, Katchmar said, until one incident crystallized the impact of her career. As a case worker in child protective services, she explained, she fought to have a young boy removed from a dangerous home environment. Fifteen years later, she attended a continuing education training on intravenous drug use and AIDS, where she saw a woman staring at her.

“Frankly, my heart broke for her because it looked like she’d been through hell,” Katchmar said. “So I took my seat at the front, because I’d forgotten to wear my contacts that day, and when the speaker approached the microphone, she looked directly at me and said, ‘I want to thank the social worker who took away my son.’ She went on to say her son had grown up to become a teacher and was earning his master’s degree, and if I hadn’t stepped in, his life would almost certainly have been a revolving door of substance use and poverty. And her voice broke with anguish but also immeasurable gratitude. I still cry when I think about that day because it’s one of the most painful — and proudest — memories I carry.”  

Now 18 months into retirement, Katchmar, who has a neurological movement disorder similar to Parkinson's, stays fit through Latin dance performance and boxing classes, which draw on her background as a pioneering competitive bodybuilder and powerlifter. Her assistant boxing coach, Malcolm Williams, is her fiancé and a veteran of the Royal Air Force. She also serves as a commissioner on the Annapolis Human Relations Commission, which works to achieve fair housing and end discriminatory rental practices. It’s an extension, Katchmar said, of the work she began her career with: protecting vulnerable people.

“Rosemary has devoted her life to making sure people, regardless of their age, status or position in society, can live safe, dignified lives,” said Christian Connell, director of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network. “Her bequest will not only channel resources directly to helping students but also burnish Penn State’s reputation as a place that truly welcomes and supports students emerging from the foster care system. This is a powerful legacy that will continue to lift up recipients for generations to come.”

Donors like Katchmar advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.