Family & Nursing Care Foundation Establishes Scholarship for Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Students

Recognizing the need for eldercare services in Montgomery County, the Family & Nursing Care Foundation has been providing grants over the past five years to nonprofit organizations providing in-homecare to low-income seniors living in Montgomery County. The foundation is now partnering with Montgomery College to train students with financial need and an interest in working with elderly populations to become Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA). The Family & Nursing Care Foundation Scholarship has been established with a gift of $25,000 over a five-year period; $5,000 will be awarded annually to selected CNA candidates applying for financial assistance through the College's existing Workforce Development & Continuing Education scholarship process for noncredit students. The first Family & Nursing Care Foundation Scholarships will be awarded for the fall 2015 semester. Between 2010 and 2020, it is estimated 1,100 nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants will need to be replaced in Montgomery County, and an additional 3,200 positions will be needed to meet demand (Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation). There is a critical need for trained, in-home eldercare services. Sandy Kursban, founder of Family & Nursing Care and the Family & Nursing Care Foundation, is actively seeking to foster and encourage partnerships between private and public sectors to share her vision of supporting students so that our County's rapidly growing senior population will have the option to remain in the safety and comfort of their home. She personally matches every donation to the Family & Nursing Care Foundation with a dollar-for-dollar from her own pocket. Established in 2008, the Family & Nursing Care Foundation, a fund with the Community Foundation for Montgomery County, addresses two vital needs in the community - to help support community organizations that provide low-income seniors with the dedicated home care they need to remain in their own homes, and to help support homecare training program for those individuals who want to learn the skills needed to become nurses and nursing assistants so they may care for the elderly population. For more information, visit: http://www.familynursingcare.com/foundation/. The Montgomery College Foundation is very grateful to Ms. Kursban and the Family & Nursing Care Foundation for the generous support of our CNA students. For additional information, please contact Rose Garvin Aquilino, director of corporate and foundation relations, at rose.garvinaquilino@montgomerycollege.edu or 240-567-4240.