{"id":1693,"date":"2020-07-28T19:57:11","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T19:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2024-12-12T04:48:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T04:48:41","slug":"comfort-in-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/2020\/07\/28\/comfort-in-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Comfort in crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Megan<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

EOU Foundation funds keep students enrolled through life\u2019s challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last year alone, 27 students benefited from EOU Foundation<\/a> Crisis Awards. The funds support online and on-campus students who find themselves in difficult situations, where medical expenses, car trouble or childcare costs could threaten their progress toward earning a degree. These private funds close the gap to keep students on track, and, alongside other student services, support them on the way to timely graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher education was never part of Megan Brown\u2019s plan<\/strong> for her life. Her parents hadn\u2019t gone to college, and she\u2019d followed them into the working world right after high school. But after seven years of working double-shifts as a waitress to support her young son, Brown decided to make a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got fed up and quit one day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown did odd jobs and worked harvest for a year, but after being turned down for more professional positions because she didn\u2019t have a degree, she enrolled at Eastern Oregon University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in her senior year, Brown is determined to complete her business degree<\/a> a year early and graduate in June 2020. She hopes a minor in communication and concentrations in marketing and management will equip her to promote athletics teams or work in a sports information office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little over a year ago, Brown\u2019s dream was almost derailed. She was three terms into her education as a first-generation student, working two jobs and attending classes full-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings got really tight,\u201d she said. \u201cMy son has health issues, including asthma and allergies, and I\u2019d been trying to make every penny stretch. I have a lot of pride. I\u2019ve worked since I was 15, I moved out on my own at 17. It\u2019s really hard for me to ask for help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown talked to Scholarship Coordinator Danny Bailey<\/a>, who told her about Crisis Awards from the EOU Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wrote my letter, and I didn\u2019t expect anything,\u201d she said, but hardship funds opened her eyes to the generosity of the EOU community. \u201cIt showed me that people are out there to help, and they recognize that things happen. It\u2019s really nice to know that there are people who want to help. I would love to thank that donor, to say how much it helped my family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018-19, the EOU Foundation awarded $10,891 in Crisis Awards, awarding about 200-$500 (on average) to 27 students in crisis.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 33, Brown is a non-traditional on-campus student, and she hopes to bridge the gap for single parents and older students who need some inspiration. She\u2019s getting her career jump-started as sports information director\u2019s intern this year at EOU.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Tanisha<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI never saw myself going to college, especially in my 30s,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting the Crisis Award has kept me on track, and I hope that one day I can be in a financial situation where I could help someone like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 2,000 miles separated Tanisha Willis from her family<\/strong> in Fort Benning, Georgia when she moved to La Grande in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019d spent about two years in Texas, working and taking classes full-time. Eventually the strain of 80-hour weeks became too much and her mental health suffered. After a brief return home, Willis followed her partner to Eastern Oregon University and enrolled as a junior, bringing credits from four prior institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After stints in the medical field and other careers, Willis found inspiration in EOU\u2019s art facilities<\/a> and embraced her passion for creating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved art, but my family didn\u2019t want me to become a \u2018starving artist,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cArt 101 was a turning point for me. It got me thinking about art in a different way and really opened my eyes to contemporary art.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a class project, she made a cardboard box with an infinity mirror in it to communicate big ideas about modern issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the most ambitious thing I\u2019d attempted and I was really impressed with what I was able to create,\u201d Willis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, though, her relationship and mental health were deteriorating. Willis reached out to Mike Williams in the TRIO Student Support Services office, and he connected her with emergency housing in the residence halls, as well as counseling services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams also referred her to Financial Aid<\/a> staff to learn more about her eligibility for a Crisis Award. When the relationship broke down and Willis lost her housing, she also lost some of her belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had one blanket and a pillow when I moved to the residence hall,\u201d she said. \u201cI used the Crisis Award for a comforter, groceries, towels and soap. It made me feel good that there was someone I could go to for help getting those items that make you feel human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As president of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center<\/a> and Vice President of Art Club<\/a>, Willis said she tries to do her part to create inclusive, welcoming communities on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a student of color, it\u2019s hard to accept that if you want to affect change you have to be brave enough to participate, to put your foot in and go to those places you feel out of place,\u201d she said. \u201cBut nothing would\u2019ve changed if I had just stayed home all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s set her focus on print media and plans to graduate in March 2020. Coming from metropolitan areas in the opposite corner of the country, Willis said she\u2019s become more open to rural communities during her time at EOU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world we live in is a harsh one, I don\u2019t think we should make it worse,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to be kind and help one another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about how you can support students at eou.edu\/foundation<\/a> today!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EOU Foundation funds keep students enrolled through life\u2019s challenges Last year alone, 27 students benefited from EOU Foundation Crisis Awards. The funds support online and on-campus students who find themselves in difficult situations, where medical expenses, car trouble or childcare costs could threaten their progress toward earning a degree. These private funds close the gap to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":491,"featured_media":1694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foundation-profiles","category-magazine-profiles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/491"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1693"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2478,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions\/2478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}