Thank you again for your past support of the Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship. In the past year, we were able to help four students who were close to completing their social work degrees but having significant financial challenges. We are in another campaign for this fund that we end on December 4, 2019. We are at 33% of our goal.

Please consider giving again to help us reach another goal. 100% of the money that is given to this fund goes to help social work students in their final year who are struggling financially. The University of Memphis does not charge us any fees for using this platform for fundraising.

You can give again today at this link.

Dear Donors,

I am pleased to tell you about two more students that we were able to help this semester thanks to the Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship.

C.W. just graduated last weekend with her BA in social work. During spring semester, her car broke down costing her roughly $600. She was taking on additional work hours at her part-time job to cover this new expense. With the additional work hours, she was struggling to finish her field hours and finish all of her coursework. She was considering dropping her minor in Spanish because of her financial stress and her difficulty juggling all her responsibilities. The Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship was able to cover her additional $600 expense. This resulted in her finishing field on time and completing the Spanish minor.

A.J. is an MSW student who is nearly finished with her degree. She will graduate in Fall 2019. She quit her job to focus on her education. Through a series of events, she has ended up homeless and staying with relatives. She has run out of financial aid and needs a course in summer to stay on track for graduation. With no other options to pay for the one course, the Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship was able to step in and help her.

Thank you again for your donation! Your donation helps students like C.W. and A.J. graduate. You can donate again anytime at: https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1728/interior.aspx?sid=1728&gid=2&pgid=1770&cid=3059

Sincerely,

Susan Neely-Barnes

Donors,

I am pleased to tell you that we have awarded another student the Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship. One of our Lambuth campus students in Jackson, TN was ineligible to graduate because she need just a few more credit hours. She was eligible to register for those hours but was out of financial aid. Thanks to your generous donation, we were able to help her graduate. Her thank you note is below:

I am sincerely honored to have been selected as the recipient of the School of Social Work Scholarship. Thank you for your generosity, which has allowed me to finish my last semester at the University of Memphis, located in Jackson, TN. I will be graduating on Saturday,  May 4, 2019. As I complete my education at the University of Memphis, I am very thankful for receiving your thoughtful gift. Because of your scholarship, I will be able to finish my hours to receive my Bachelor of Social Work. 

Also, please remember that we are having a fundraiser for the Scholarship on Thursday, February 28th at the home of Jonathan Cole. The Facebook invitation may be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/287978128575047/  I hope you can join us for this event.

Sincerely,

Susan Neely-Barnes, PhD, MSW

Please join us for a Wine & Hors D'Oeuvres Party to benefit the Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship. Please RSVP through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/287978128575047/

If you cannot respond through the Facebook link, please email Sandra Gray at sgray12@memphis.edu 

Donors, 

I am pleased to tell you that we are now at 88% of our fundraising goal! Put another way, we only need $480 to achieve our goal. We have three days left to collect donations.

It's not to late to share about your donation with others. Go back to our website https://momentum.memphis.edu/sw_scholarship. On the page, there are links for sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or email. You can share about why you gave to the Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship to encourage others to give. Or, you can just forward this email.

Thank you for your generous donation, and please continue to help us reach our goal!

Best wishes,

Susan

Donors,

Did you know that 70% of social work majors are low income and qualify for the Pell Grant? Students who are low income are at much greater risk of drop out or stop out than higher income students. University of Memphis social work majors who do not receive Pell have a six-year graduation rate of 88.9%. University of Memphis social work majors who receive Pell have a six-year graduation rate of 56.5%. In other words, nearly all social work majors who are not from low income families graduate. However, just over half of social work majors who come from low-income families graduate.

We are at 64% of our fundraising goal and we have 10 more days in this campaign. Please share about your donation on social media and encourage others to give.

Thank you again for donating this year to the SW Student Assistance Scholarship. We are currently at 51% of our goal!

I am pleased to tell you that we have used your generous donation to help another student graduate. KC is nine hours from finishing his degree, and he has exhausted all eligibility for other forms of financial aid. Here's an except from his thank you letter: 

I can assure you I am very appreciative of this scholarship as it will allow me to bring a promise I made to myself and my now deceased mom, into reality. This has without a doubt enriched my experience and dreams of being an Alumnus of the University of Memphis.

I appreciate your confidence in me and your willingness to contribute to my future education. I am in the home stretch and your scholarship has relieved a huge financial burden and allowed me to focus primarily on academics. I am eager to continue my work in our community and will be an advocate and support system for our youth. I am now equipped with tools and gained knowledge necessary to continue to the cycle and pay it forward as you did for me.

Thank you again for your support and please encourage others to give today.

Donors,

Thus far, we have achieved 42% percent of our goal. That's a wonderful accomplishment for our first week!

The Social Work Student Assistance Scholarship has already made a significant impact in the lives of several students since it was created a few years ago. Here are some quotes from some of our recent recipients:

Thank you very much for your generous donation. I am very grateful to be part of a school and a program that not only cares about their student's success, but also their well-being. My son and I are forever thankful. Our deepest thanks to you and all the donors that made this gift possible.

Thank you just does not really say what this donation means to me. After writing a standard thank you note, that just did not seem to fully express my feelings and that you will truly understand is if I explain a few of the hardships I faced on my journey to get my diploma… If you had not donated, I am not sure I would have been able to finish for quite a long time. My mother would have been devastated that she could not help but they are in debt too so the thought of even telling her about the situation got me emotional.

Supporters,

Did you know that social work students experience more financial hardship than other university students? The table below illustrates that social work students come from lower income families and more likely to be Pell Grant recipients. They are also more likely to be first generation college students. 

For students who are low income, small grants are a proven strategy to help them stay in school and complete their degrees. You can read an article about completion grants from the Chronicle of Higher Education here.

Will you help us help our students? Please give today!