Soroptimist International of Raleigh Announces 2022 Recipients of Live Your Dream Education And Training Awards For Women®
Four local woman honored with $2,000 cash grants for educational expenses
For Immediate Release
March 23, 2022
Contact:
Betsy Miller, President SI Raleigh
bmiller@soroptimistraleigh.org
781.366.1955
RALEIGH, NC – Soroptimist International of Raleigh, a local club of the global volunteer organization Soroptimist® that economically empowers women, awarded four recipients—Shabria, Khadijah, Lourdes and Portia—with its Live Your Dream Education and Training Awards for Women. The Live Your Dream Awards assist women who provide the primary source of financial support for their families by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills and employment prospects.
The Raleigh Club granted $2,000 to each local award recipient. The program is unique in that recipients may use the cash grant to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education—such as books, childcare, tuition and transportation. Since 1989, Soroptimist Raleigh has granted over $65,000 to women in our local communities.
Each of the 2022 Live Your Dream Awards finalists has overcome enormous obstacles in order to get where they are today.
Shabria is pursuing her associate degree in medical office administration at Wake Tech Community College. Losing both her parents at an early age meant that Shabria grew up without financial help and no parental guidance. She has since overcome divorce and the challenges of being a single mother while still working full time and finishing her education. A desire to make her parents proud and to be a positive role model for her daughter has driven Shabria’s dedication to her education, and she intends to continue on and complete a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management and eventually a master’s degree in the same field. Shabria has long wanted to contribute to the health and wellbeing of her community by working in healthcare, and this award will help her continue to strive for this admirable ambition.
Khadijah is a student in the nursing program at Wake Technical Community College, and has a lifelong dream to become a midwife. Growing up Khadijah’s life was unstable, moving from home to home as she witnessed how drugs ruined her family dynamics and eventually ending up in foster home at the age of 8 where she remained until turning 18. She then returned to what was left of her father’s biological family. It was while caring for her Grandmother, who commented that Khadijah had healing hands, when something sparked in her heart and led her to commit to healing others. Khadijah is driven by an ambition to become a driver of change in her community and being able to provide support to women who have experienced extreme hardship. This award will not only bring Khadijah one step closer to her goals of being safe at home and earning a living wage but also to allow her to support her younger brother.
Lourdes will be completing her associate degree in nursing at Wake Technical Community College this Spring, after which she will take the exam to become a Registered Nurse. Lourdes migrated to the United States in 2014, and while she struggled with culture shock and language skills, she knew education would be the key to making a better life for her and her daughter. She learned English by herself by watching tv and reading the news, and by the time her daughter started kindergarten she was able to enroll in college and there she found a passion for nursing. Lourdes’ final hurdle is that she must complete 200 hours at a hospital, continue to work her part time job to pay her bills, and be responsible for taking care of her child, without the support of a spouse or close family. This award will provide Lourdes the essential financial support she needs to meet and succeed in this challenge and finally become a nurse in her adopted country.
Portia is currently pursuing her associate degree in nursing at Wake Technical Community College. She works part-time as a nurse technician in an intensive care unit, while getting her education and raising two children ages 3 and 7 by herself. Portia has dealt with many struggles during her journey, not least the passing of a very dear friend who was also pursuing the nursing program and lost her life battling Covid. She plans to continue working as a registered nurse in her current unit, while she embarks on her next goal of being a nurse anesthetist. Portia hopes one day to work for Doctors Without Borders, allowing her to fulfill her dream of giving to others; paying forward the support and true friendship she has received from the people around her. This award will provide Portia with a key piece of the support she needs to finish her education and continue to build a better life for herself and her two sons.
Every year the Live Your Dream Award provides over $2.8 million in cash grants to head-of-household women in need each year. As Soroptimists celebrate their 100th anniversary, 2022 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Live Your Dream Awards®. Over the past 50 years the Live Your Dream Awards® have supported more than 35,000 of women in achieving their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families. A study conducted by The Fels Institute of Government, a research and consulting organization based at the University of Pennsylvania, confirmed the efficacy and impact of this program. It improves the recipients’ quality of life; builds their confidence; strengthens their self-determination and makes them want to, in turn, help others. Helping women in this way has the demonstrated effect of leading to stronger communities, nations and the world. After 50 years, our ambition to help women create a better life for themselves and their families through access to education and training has always remained the same.
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Founded in 1987, Soroptimist International of Raleigh is a local club of Soroptimist International, a global organization that works to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Soroptimist, a 501(c)(3) organization that relies on charitable donations to support its programs. To learn more about the Raleigh club, please visit: www.soroptimistraleigh.org.