Rasmussen University has been a great partner of the St. Rita Program to connect with students in their Practical or Registered Nursing programs who need a little bit of assistance to cross the finish line. One of the first individuals the St. Rita Program assisted was Haley, a Registered Nursing student who had six out of twelve months left in her program. Her fiancé was recently laid off who was the main person helping support her financially while going to school. With him out of work, she became their sole supporter as he searched for work. She was only working part-time at the University making $16.50 an hour and working only about 20-25 hours a week due to her school schedule. They were falling behind on their bills and it was becoming impossible for Haley to pay for her school tuition to keep doing her Registered Nursing program. One morning, she was heading into the school not to go to class but to unenroll as she just did not see how she could afford it anymore and needed to go back to work full-time. However, when she arrived at the school, she was greeted by a specialist with the St. Rita Program at a table event. It was here that she changed her mind about unenrolling and saw an opportunity that may allow her to reach her goal with a little bit of extra help.
Haley completed an application and was accepted into the St. Rita Program. Her fiancé had just found a new employment opportunity so things were starting to look better. However, she was still behind on bills and needed the St. Rita Program’s help to catch back up to be able to truly focus on school. The St. Rita Program was able to help Haley with gas gift cards to help reduce the cost of her commute to and from school, purchased her a new laptop to complete her school work easier, helped her with a month of rent and purchased her tennis shoes to be able to do her clinicals. Further, the St. Rita Program helped Haley with her NCLEX fees to officially become a Registered Nurse. All of this helped Haley and her fiancé to be able to then put more money towards making the necessary payments for her tuition and ultimately ease the stress in their personal lives and in Haley’s schooling.
Haley ended up graduating school and passing her NCLEX on time and shortly after gained full-time employment with The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus making initially $34.45 per hour and after 90 days, received a pay raise to then be at $37.50 an hour. Haley expressed her gratitude of this Catholic Charities program writing, “The St. Rita Program has significantly impacted my life in various ways. The program’s support enabled me to persist and achieve my goal of becoming an RN, surpassing my own expectations. Without the St. Rita Program, I would likely have encountered ongoing struggles to sustain my education or would have had to navigate re-entry into the program later on. My gratitude for the profound impact on my life and that of my family is immeasurable. I express my hope for the program’s continuity in aiding individuals in need and directing students on the right path, even in seemingly dire circumstances.”
Haley is continuing to thrive in her new role as an RN and even recently got married to her fiancé. She expresses gratitude that the St. Rita Program not only helped her educational stresses, but her personal life stresses too and is not sure where she would be without the program, the life-skills she learned from 1-1 meetings/online platform trainings with her specialist and the financial support she received.
She ultimately learned that sometimes just a little bit of help can truly go a long way!
