Fund Keeps Health Professions Students on Track in Tough Times

When Lakesia Baker’s car broke down in 2021, it could have derailed her life.

Baker is a student in the Medical Laboratory Sciences program at the VCU College of Health Professions. For the vitally important clinical lab portion of her education, she travels from Richmond to Charlottesville most days of the week.

“As a first-generation college student, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it back and forth,” she said.

Thankfully, the College of Health Professions has a safety net in place for students like Baker. In early 2020 just before the pandemic began, the college’s dean, Susan Parish, Ph.D., established the college’s Student Emergency Fund. The fund provides students with financial support when faced with an unexpected, unforeseen or unavoidable emergency expense that may be related to an accident, illness, death of a family member, fire damage or need for temporary housing.

“It's kind of chilling to me to think that a financial emergency could derail a student from becoming the health care professional that they want to become,” Dr. Parish said. “These are basic needs that students need to have satisfied so they can be fully engaged in their educational experience here in the College of Health Professions.”

So far, generous donors have contributed around $70,000 and helped more than 50 of the college’s students through times of need or crisis.

Alena Hampton, Ph.D., the college’s associate dean for academic affairs and student success has witnessed the impact on students’ education and lives, and how that has created a sense of community at the college.

“We've provided support around tuition and fees, but we've also been able to provide for living expenses, medical issues, transportation challenges and paying their rent,” Dr. Hampton said. “It leads to students having a deeper affinity for the College of Health Professions and feeling more connected.”

With five of its programs ranked in the top 20 nationally, the VCU College of Health Professions is widely considered to be one of the top health professions schools in the nation. Graduates going into the workforce quickly become leaders in fields such as nurse anesthesia, physical therapy, occupational therapy, hospital administration, pastoral care and others.

“The healthcare workforce desperately needs every single student that we are graduating,” Dr. Parish said.

That includes students like Lakesia Baker.

“Being a first-generation college student, being a STEM student, a fund like this really made it possible for me to complete my academics this far.”

If you are interested in supporting the VCU College of Health Professions Student Emergency Fund, contact T. Greg Prince, Ed.D., senior director of development at the college, at tgprince@vcu.edu or 804-828-3269.