Agrace: Madison-area high school seniors awarded Agrace Minority Certified Nursing Assistant scholarships

MADISON, Wis. – Agrace Hospice & Palliative Care today announced the recipients of its new Minority Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Scholarship. The Minority CNA Scholarship program is for high school seniors of color who want to pursue a Nursing Assistant Certificate at Madison College. The scholarship funds CNA education, training and certification, and provides the opportunity for a CNA job with Agrace once the scholar’s certification is complete.

The 2015 recipients of the Agrace Minority Certified Nursing Assistant Scholarship are (pictured below, left-right) Makayla Mitchell, Madison Memorial High School; Shannell Terrell, Madison Memorial High School; Tawania Alston, Malcolm Shabazz City High School; Veronica Valdes Jasso, Verona Area High School; Itzel Fuentes, La Follette High School; Sandy Yang, Malcolm Shabazz City High School; Samaya Sauer, Malcolm Shabazz City High School; Amri Moon-Norton, Monona Grove High School; Michaella Bell, Malcolm Shabazz City High School; Janessa Weichmann, Madison West High School; Shawn Curtis, DeForest High School; Arkeisha Johnson, Madison Memorial High School.

Agrace is a local, nonprofit palliative care and hospice agency offering specialized pain and symptom management and other services to help increase patients’ comfort and reduce their stress during any stage of a serious illness. The Agrace Minority CNA Scholars Program is supported by the Agrace Educational Institute and generously funded by Lester and Barb Palmer in memory of Mike Palmer, as well as by American Family Insurance. The program honors Agrace’s vision to lead the evolution of hospice and palliative care through innovation, education and access—one patient, one family, one community at a time.

“In Wisconsin, minorities make up less than 5 percent of registered nurses,” said Alia Dayne, diversity and community relations coordinator at Agrace. “We are expanding our diverse employee population by investing in education and encouraging more minorities to enter the health care field.” According to Dayne, studies show that as more minorities become nurses, people in underserved areas get better access to health care.

Full details about the scholarship program can be obtained by calling Alia Dayne at Agrace at (608) 327-7236 or visiting agrace.org/CNAscholarship.