Valley Health has awarded a grant of $25,000 to the college-access nonprofit Scholars Latino Initiative (SLI) to support Winchester SLI scholars pursuing studies in healthcare careers.
SLI’s mission is to support Latino/a/x high school students with college access through rigorous academic challenge, leadership development, scholarships, and supportive mentorships. Its programs in Winchester, Harrisonburg, and Richmond have served more than 200 students. SLI alumni have attended 25 colleges and universities.
“This grant from Valley Health will positively impact both students and the broader Winchester community,” said Fawn-Amber Montoya, SLI board chair. “SLI scholars are hard-working, motivated individuals whose future careers in healthcare will both provide them with upward financial mobility as well as strengthen health services in Winchester and beyond.”
Valley Health is a not-for-profit health system of hospitals, Urgent Care locations, physician practices, and services dedicated to meeting the medical needs of West Virginia, Maryland, and the Top of Virginia.
An estimated 30 percent of SLI alumni pursue health-related studies. Their majors have included health information management, biology, clinical laboratory science, neuroscience, psychology, biomedical engineering, occupational therapy, medical Spanish, speech pathology, biotech science, computer engineering, and others.
“When you’re a high school senior who is starting to apply for college, and when you start coming across things that you have never had to deal with before, it is terrifying,” one SLI alum shared recently. “You feel as if at any point you can sink and not end up preparing for that transition from high school to college.”
A 2021 graduate of John Handley High School, he is now an RN at Winchester Medical Center.
“Through SLI, I was able to have access to many resources that allowed for that smooth transition,” he recalled. “SLI taught me what to do, and how to do it, and having someone guide me through this process was a true blessing. Through SLI’s workshops, and their mentee-mentor program, that fear of preparation vanished, and I am forever grateful for that.”
He spoke last year during SLI’s annual gala, SLI Celebración, which this year will take place in Harrisonburg at the Loft at Liberty St. on Saturday, November 8. The evening celebrates the successes of SLI scholars and will feature a locally sourced fajita bar, wine and local beers, the music of Lua Project, and more. Tickets will be available at vasli.org/celebracion beginning August 16.
