About our Founders
Mr. Abijah Bertrand
(1980-2019)
Our Late Co-Founder's Legacy Lives On
It's hard to even speak about it sometimes, but the loss of Co-Founder Abijah Bertrand really rocked our organization. However, his passion for young adults with disabilities lives on in each of us. LTS has continued to survive because of his dedication to serving our participants and for this we continue our mission to help each person reach their fullest potential.
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As a special education teacher for more than 15+ years, Abijah was a guru in this industry. He received the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce Community Impact Award in 2019 for outstanding service in this field. He was married to Staci Bertrand and has four sons, Alijah, Ethan, Aaron and Evan. He was known and loved by all who met him and his legacy lives on through us and this organization.
Ms. Percyette Hoskins
A Woman With A Vision
Ms. Hoskins has been a dedicated Co-Founder to LTS and was in fact the person who had the vision for this organization. She came to Abijah and told him that it was time to quit his job because they needed to start a non-profit to fill the gap for students with disabilities. Prior to starting LTS, she was a long-time teaching assistant in various exceptional student education programs with Alachua County Public Schools serving for more than 12 years.
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Together, Ms. Hoskins and Abijah never looked back. Her faith in God has propelled the program over the years and her dedication to doing right by our students has kept our focus. She also has a wonderful sense of humor that keeps things light and exciting everyday for our students as she leads as our program coordinator and teacher.