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Wealth for health
Seven ways to nourish campus offerings
Start a scholarship
Animas Surgical Hospital established the Animas Surgical Hospital Regional Nursing Scholarship endowment to invest in the education and training of our healthcare workforce. Regional high school seniors who intend to enroll in FLC’s nursing program are eligible for this annual award. Bailey Martinez, an incoming FLC student from Bayfield High School, is the first recipient of this scholarship.
Support academic advising and mentorships
Kathryn Ryan directs the Ryan Family Fund, which focuses on education, improving healthcare in underserved communities, and other needs in today's world. When Ryan learned of the CU Anshutz FLC Nursing Collaborative, she pledged $200,000 to fund the Pre- Nursing Skyhawk Advisor position to support students throughout their educational journey.
This new program seems like the perfect answer to some of the greatest healthcare challenges in tribal communities, and FLC is the perfect college to do it. If we can direct dollars toward training healthcare providers, the world will be a better place. This program will lift everyone up.
Kathryn Ryan, Director of the Ryan Family Fund
Fund a Summer Bridge program
The John & Sophie Ottens Foundation has gifted over $5.2 million in grants to FLC since 2000 to support the Native American Center and scholarship opportunities for Indigenous students. As the Foundation shutters its doors this summer, Henry Hooper, executive director of the Foundation, arranged an additional $200,000 gift for Indigenous students enrolled in the pre-orientation Pre-Nursing PEAK Experience. This program is designed for students entering FLC's pre-nursing degree track and other health science fields. “In healthcare, there are all kinds of positions and ways to give back, use their education, and earn a decent living," Hooper said. "It’s a pleasure to meet students who want to get an education and return to make an impact on their communities.”
Build culturally inclusive curriculum, labs, and classrooms
The FLC Foundation received $1.7 million from The Colorado Health Foundation to support the CU Anschutz FLC Nursing Collaborative. This substantial grant will contribute to the transformation of Skyhawk Hall into culturally inclusive nursing simulation labs and classrooms. The grant also funds curriculum development and student scholarships in partnership with CU Anschutz.
Provide health resources
Candice Carson, FLC Foundation board director and president of the Coutts & Clark Western Foundation, gifted $100,000 to support women’s reproductive health resources offered through FLC’s Student Health Center. “One of the best ways to aid academic success... is to invest in women," Carson said. "When women can be economically self-sufficient and have agency over their bodies, the whole world benefits.”
Launch an endowment
After discovering FLC’s establishment of a collaborative BSN program with her alma mater, CU Anschutz, Jan Wolvin created the Lee & Maxine Mathews Scholarship Endowment in honor of her parents. The endowment will support students enrolled in the Nursing Collaborative program at FLC. Wolvin also included the FLC Foundation in her estate plan to grow the endowment. “Creating this endowment allows me to give back to a profession that provided me so much fulfillment and opportunity," Wolvin said. "Nursing degrees can open many doors.”
Collaborate on a new academic program
Durango siblings and community pillars Karen Zink and Steve Short supported the CU Anschutz FLC Nursing Collaborative program with more than $1 million in philanthropic support. In 2022, Zink and her husband Jerry launched the Karen Zink Family Fund for Nursing Education with a $1 million collaborative gift between FLC and CU. Short and his wife Jane provided a $30,000 nursing scholarship fund to support the first student cohort of Fall 2023.
Bailey Martinez, scholarship recipient and incoming first-year student
I believe I have been destined to help people all my life. The obstacles I’ve faced so far have only pushed me to succeed and find my way through my pursuit of higher education.
I lost my grandmother to cancer when I was seven years old. She was one of my biggest role models and greatest fans. Cancer made me realize that life is so precious and to always chase my dreams and protect my physical health. Watching someone I love die definitely changed my goals–especially when it comes to my education.
I want to spend a lifetime studying health to help people improve their physical well-being, which I believe is the first step toward cultivating a better life. By pursuing a Nursing degree and being a part of the Pre-Health profession program, I know I will be able to further my knowledge and experience in this field of study to prepare myself for a healthcare career. One of my biggest goals is to one day provide holistic care that helps better the entire person—because that is what health is.
My first step toward this goal is obtaining my Certified Nursing Assistant certificate.
I have put in at least 20 hours of providing care at a local nursing home, where I absolutely fell in love with the experience of getting to know these people and their stories and giving them the quality care they deserve. This experience has given me a new perspective on life and is a huge stepping stone in my journey to succeeding in the healthcare field in the future.
Although my story has only just started, my work ethic and determination have pushed me further than I would have ever imagined possible. I look forward to completing a degree in the health sciences and giving my time and knowledge to help better people's lives someday.
Bailey Martinez, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, graduated from Bayfield High School in May 2023. She received the Jane & Steven Short Nursing Scholarship and funds from the John & Sophie Ottens Foundation. She is also the first recipient of the Animas Surgical Hospital Regional Nursing Scholarship award and will begin the Pre-Nursing degree program at FLC in Fall 2023. Martinez is a first-generation college student.