Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2017-2018

n Success story Say yes LOCAL NONPROFIT YES 2 KOLLEGE HELPS AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS FIND AN EDUCATION AND A CAREER BY Robin Epley PHOTOS: Larry Dalton D ee Lucien is waiting patiently. She’s on the shortlist for a spot in the prestigious doctoral program at UC Davis’ Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, thanks to a full-ride scholarship she says she never would have known about if it hadn’t been for one local nonprofit. Yes 2 Kollege helps African-Ameri- cans in the greater Sacramento region achieve their educational goals and realize a path into the health care in- dustry, says Executive Director Sharon Chandler. One way the nonprofit does this is through an annual conference held at the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. The nonprofit partners with the university to assist 82 CAPITAL REGION CARES 2017 | comstocksmag.com attendees in applying for UC Davis scholarships. “We’re like the middle man,” Chan- dler says. “We get the resources to the people and the people to the resources.” Lucien, who hopes to enter the nursing doctoral program this fall, received her scholarship at last year’s confer- ence. A second scholarship went to a young woman pursuing her master’s degree in nursing at UC Davis. Lucien currently teaches nursing at Sacramento City College, where she serves as faculty adviser for the school’s National Student Nurses Association chapter. She says the conference helps students navigate a career path in nursing. “They get to learn what a nurse is, how you get in,

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