Coahoma Community College News December 9, 2014 Entergy/ Women’s Foundation Grant awards four CCC students, moms Being a full-time mom and worker is tough. Add being a full-time student to the equation and it becomes even tougher. Now, four Coahoma Community College students and moms are feeling a little relief thanks to a generous $2,500 grant awarded to CCC by the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi through Entergy Mississippi. During a special press conference, hosted at 11 a.m. Friday, representatives from both organizations were on hand as CCC President Dr. Valmadge Towner presented each of the students with a $625 check. The recipients are all a part of CCC’s new Career Counseling and Remedial Prep Program for Women, funded by a $50,000 grant awarded to CCC by the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi. According to CCC Dean of Academics Rolonda Brown, Entergy Mississippi requested the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi to select a grant recipient, and CCC was chosen due to the success of its women’s remediation program. “We’re very grateful. Thank you for your graciousness and just considering us. We’re very excited,” said Brown, who serves as the Project Director of the new remedial program. “We have chosen four young ladies that we felt were exceptionally deserving.” With Christmas right around the corner, the moms all agreed that the award was a pleasant, unexpected surprise. Nursing major Renee Moore-Lane of Clarksdale said the money will be a big help for her and her two kids—Van, 8, and Elliott, 5. “I’m very thankful. I’m looking forward to paying off some bills,” said Lane. “This also gives me some extra Christmas money for my two boys.” Juanita Pointer of Coahoma, an Office Technology & Business major, plans to use the money to help pay for childcare, utility bills and to provide transportation for herself and her three kids. Nursing major Tania Wright of Strayhorn is looking forward to purchasing a new laptop for schoolwork and paying off some bills to help make life easier for her and her two children. “This is a great surprise especially because my laptop just crashed,” said Wright. Freshman Katie Brown of Clarksdale said the check is just in time to help make her 2-year-old daughter’s Christmas and upcoming birthday extra special. “Each year Entergy awards a number of grants, most of which are given to improve the status and condition of low-income individuals and the improvement and advancement of education,” said Gerald Husband of the Entergy Corporation. “Thank you for allowing Entergy Mississippi the opportunity to contribute and be a part of such a worthy cause.” Latisha Latiker of the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi said it’s all in tune with the organization’s commitment to improving the lives of women and children in Mississippi. “One of the reason the Mississippi Women’s Foundation focuses on community colleges is because we know a large amount of the population are non-traditional students who have families that they must also juggle,” said Latiker. “We know that sometimes life happens and that’s why we provide assistance to help them across those little bumps in the road.” CCC President Dr. Valmadge Towner congratulated the students and thanked the funding sources for selecting CCC. “For any individual to get to a certain place in life, it takes so many sources. …We don’t get to where we are solely because we desire to do so; we have to have some help,” said Towner. “I’m really excited about this partnership providing help to our students in a way that the college simply could not.” To view more photos from the press conference on CCC’s Facebook page, CLICK HERE<https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.492433197564567.1073742060.125672030907354&type=1> SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.