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Student Emergency Fund: Vital Relief for Resilient Vikings
A married mother of three children, Christina Barnes-Eames ’08, ’26G realized her true calling was nursing after caring for her family most of her life and being a stay-at-home mom for years. But, after exhausting financial aid and not qualifying for private personal loans, she faced having to leave school.
That’s where Salem State University’s Student Emergency Fund came in during the winter of 2023, giving Christina and her family a vital boost and allowing her to push forward and make her dream of becoming a nurse a reality.
“At Christmas, I received a grant, which covered most of my tuition for December and allowed me to put the extra money toward the kids,” Christina shares. “It meant a great deal to me and my family. Without this generosity, nursing school would be a much greater burden.”
Christina is just one of 828 students at Salem State who have benefited from the Student Emergency Fund since the fund’s inception, with $568,994 awarded. In academic year 2023-2024 alone, more than 140 students received necessary help.
The fund, aimed at providing financial support for students facing unexpected personal financial emergencies, has been supplemented the past several years by unrestricted funding, enabling more and more students just like Christina to continue their education and successfully navigate challenges along the way.
“We never know when life is going to throw us a curveball, but the Student Emergency Fund can provide support during those unnerving times,” Laura DiChiara, executive director of the Student Navigation Center explains. “The college completion coaches in the Student Navigation Center know all too well that our students come with priorities beyond their coursework; some may be parents, a caretaker for younger or older family members or be working two jobs, and a micro-grant from the emergency fund can be much-needed relief when all those priorities become too overwhelming to manage. The Student Emergency Fund has made it possible for students to persist when they thought it was impossible.”