Central Scholarship Bureau and the Leonard & Helen S. Stulman Foundation Partner to Fill a Void in Baltimore
The Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation hosts a luncheon to connect scholarship recipients with employers and community advocates.
Baltimore, MD, April 01, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Central Scholarship Bureau is pleased to announce the inaugural graduating class from the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation Scholarship Fund. Since 2008, Central Scholarship Bureau (CSB) has partnered with the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation to offer funding to students who wish to become bilingual professionals in the field of mental health in the Baltimore area. The endowed fund provides renewable scholarships up to $5,000 for Spanish-speaking graduate students pursuing social work or mental health fields.
The Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation and CSB recognized that there is a significant gap in the mental health system, too few bilingual mental health professionals, linguistically and culturally competent to work with Latinos. As the population of Latinos grows in Baltimore, the need for capable and trained mental health professionals will grow, further increasing the need for these skilled positions. Understanding that finances are often a barrier for many students, the foundation and CSB partnered to create an endowed fund at CSB that will increase the pool of qualified and dedicated professionals that can serve this underserved community.
“In the past decade, the Latino community has more than tripled in size while the services they need have not grown at that rate. We are thrilled to work with the Stulman Foundation to provide funding for these future mental health professionals and to serve the Latino community in this way,” stated Jan Wagner, President of the Central Scholarship Bureau.
Further committing to the cause, the foundation hosted a luncheon on March 24th, where scholarship recipients had the opportunity to meet with advocates in the Latino community and other professionals in the field of mental health and social work. Cathy Brill, Program Officer at The Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation, put the event together and said "We wanted to bring the students together with advocates and professionals who work every day to provide high quality services to the Latino community, to give the students a fuller picture of the needs in Baltimore. We also wanted the professionals to meet these terrific students, who will make great additions to the field."
Julia Tillman, a scholarship recipient, was one of the students in attendance. Julia noted that she was excited “to see the professionals' interest in us, the students, and their excitement surrounding our career goals.” She went on to say “Just by mentioning how I wanted to work with elderly, I was immediately given five names of people whom I could contact. I was inspired to see how dedicated these professionals were to the community. They truly cared for the people, and were concerned with the quality of services and treatment they were receiving and how it could be improved.”
Jane Plapinger, President & CEO of Baltimore Mental Health Systems, the local mental health authority for Baltimore City, applauded the Stulman Foundation’s interest in addressing the critical shortage of trained mental health professionals capable of serving the city’s growing Latino population: “Expanding the workforce of culturally competent mental health professionals is a critical step toward improving access care to the Latino adults, children and families in Baltimore. Baltimore Mental Health Systems looks forward to helping the program’s graduates find jobs in the City’s public mental health system.”
The Central Scholarship Bureau is honored to work with the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation on this exciting initiative.
About Central Scholarship Bureau:
Established in 1924, the Central Scholarship Bureau is a private, non-profit organization that assists worthy Maryland students with financial aid for postsecondary education. Central Scholarship awards financial aid packages up to $10,000 in grants and interest-free loans each year depending on financial need. For more information, please visit our website
About the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation:
Established in 2001, the Stulman Foundation works to improve mental health, health, and aging services in Maryland, with the majority of funding concentrated in Baltimore.
###
The Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation and CSB recognized that there is a significant gap in the mental health system, too few bilingual mental health professionals, linguistically and culturally competent to work with Latinos. As the population of Latinos grows in Baltimore, the need for capable and trained mental health professionals will grow, further increasing the need for these skilled positions. Understanding that finances are often a barrier for many students, the foundation and CSB partnered to create an endowed fund at CSB that will increase the pool of qualified and dedicated professionals that can serve this underserved community.
“In the past decade, the Latino community has more than tripled in size while the services they need have not grown at that rate. We are thrilled to work with the Stulman Foundation to provide funding for these future mental health professionals and to serve the Latino community in this way,” stated Jan Wagner, President of the Central Scholarship Bureau.
Further committing to the cause, the foundation hosted a luncheon on March 24th, where scholarship recipients had the opportunity to meet with advocates in the Latino community and other professionals in the field of mental health and social work. Cathy Brill, Program Officer at The Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation, put the event together and said "We wanted to bring the students together with advocates and professionals who work every day to provide high quality services to the Latino community, to give the students a fuller picture of the needs in Baltimore. We also wanted the professionals to meet these terrific students, who will make great additions to the field."
Julia Tillman, a scholarship recipient, was one of the students in attendance. Julia noted that she was excited “to see the professionals' interest in us, the students, and their excitement surrounding our career goals.” She went on to say “Just by mentioning how I wanted to work with elderly, I was immediately given five names of people whom I could contact. I was inspired to see how dedicated these professionals were to the community. They truly cared for the people, and were concerned with the quality of services and treatment they were receiving and how it could be improved.”
Jane Plapinger, President & CEO of Baltimore Mental Health Systems, the local mental health authority for Baltimore City, applauded the Stulman Foundation’s interest in addressing the critical shortage of trained mental health professionals capable of serving the city’s growing Latino population: “Expanding the workforce of culturally competent mental health professionals is a critical step toward improving access care to the Latino adults, children and families in Baltimore. Baltimore Mental Health Systems looks forward to helping the program’s graduates find jobs in the City’s public mental health system.”
The Central Scholarship Bureau is honored to work with the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation on this exciting initiative.
About Central Scholarship Bureau:
Established in 1924, the Central Scholarship Bureau is a private, non-profit organization that assists worthy Maryland students with financial aid for postsecondary education. Central Scholarship awards financial aid packages up to $10,000 in grants and interest-free loans each year depending on financial need. For more information, please visit our website
About the Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation:
Established in 2001, the Stulman Foundation works to improve mental health, health, and aging services in Maryland, with the majority of funding concentrated in Baltimore.
###
Contact
Central Scholarship Bureau
Jessica Schmidt-Bonifant
410-415-5558
www.centralsb.org
Jessica Schmidt-Bonifant
410-415-5558
www.centralsb.org
Contact
Categories