Women in Transition funds aid local women
The Friends of McHenry County College Foundation recently awarded $15,000 in scholarship money from the Women in Transition scholarship to 37 female students in MCC’s Basic Nurse Assistant program.
This is the first time the Women in Transition scholarship will be awarded and will allow the women who are ages 24 and older to continue their college education. The students are currently being trained to become certified nursing assistants, and many are planning to pursue nursing careers.
The Women in Transition scholarship is funded through proceeds from the foundation’s annual Take a Walk in Her Shoes Ball, which takes place in March during Women’s History Month.
According to Kathrine Pfister, the foundation’s development coordinator, the event’s theme is shoes to symbolize the steps women take as they go through life.
“We are very proud of all the hard work done by the Take a Walk in Her Shoes Ball committee, whose members are dedicated women throughout McHenry County and who volunteer many hours of their own time working on an event designed to help others in need,” said Bill Brennan, executive director of the Friends of MCC Foundation.
“These women really exemplify what can happen when a group of people work together for a common purpose.”
“The Woman in Transition scholarship has become a reality because of the support of the Friends of MCC Foundation and a group of compassionate, energetic women who are committed to helping other women with challenges to complete their education while also working to raise their families,” said Sandra Pierce, Shoe Ball chairwoman.
“I am very excited to be a part of the women helping women effort and look forward to their successful completion of their educational goals.”
This group of recipients is enrolled in MCC’s certified nurse assistant classes and came to MCC through a federal grant for nursing.
The costs associated with the number of women involved in this study program exceeded the grant funding.
“The large number of students in this semester’s grant-funded classes wouldn’t have been able to continue with their classes this semester without the foundation’s generosity,” said Joan Flanagan, director of MCC’s Nursing Department.
For details on the Women in Transition scholarship, contact Kathrine Pfister, development coordinator, at (815) 479-7529. For more information on the Take a Walk in Her Shoes Ball, visit www.mchenry.edu/shoes.