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Corewell Health recently awarded Montcalm Community College a five-year pledge totaling $100,000 to support the college’s “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign.

The pledge will create an endowed scholarship fund to benefit students who are admitted into MCC’s nursing program. Scholarships will be awarded as part of MCC’s regular scholarship awarding process based on the established criteria. The first scholarships will benefit students beginning fall semester 2023.

Andrea Leslie, president of Corewell Health Greenville, Kelsey, Big Rapids and Reed City Hospitals, said the health system views supporting scholarships as an opportunity for helping students as they pursue careers in nursing, and ultimately supporting workforce development in the region.

“We have such a good partnership with Montcalm Community College,” Leslie said. “I think one of the things MCC does well is to look and see what the community needs and where there are job opportunities. Clearly health care is where a lot of the jobs are and especially in nursing.                                                              

“As we look to the future, this scholarship in nursing will serve as an endowment. We will be able to fund this into perpetuity. It is an amazing thing to be able to have nurses coming from Montcalm Community College to be able to have these scholarships to support students who ultimately will be fulfilling health care needs, hopefully in our community,” she said.

Therese Alt, Chief Nursing Officer, Greenville and Kelsey Hospitals, agreed.

“We are looking at it from the perspective that we are grateful to partner with Montcalm Community College. Really, we would like to not only be able to support students in developing their nursing practice, but also support and help them academically,” Alt said. “This is a great opportunity to do that. We love having the Montcalm students here. It’s a unique partnership where we can get students into our building and also support them in their college journey as well.”

Alt said many of MCC’s nursing students complete clinical training with Corewell Health and eventually enter into employment with the health care system.

“We love to see them grow from student nurses to professional nurses,” Alt said.

Leslie said the ability to aid students throughout their educational journey supports Corewell Health’s philosophy to think differently about what is possible.

“Most student nurses work to support themselves and maybe a family. Being able to take some of that burden away is huge. That little extra layer of financial help is what we are hoping to accomplish,” Leslie said. “Nursing school is really hard, so again, every minute matters. Nurses are helping with the reformation of health care and are really leading the way. That’s one of the incredible things about being a nurse – you can take it in any direction.”

Lisa Lund, Executive Director for the MCC Foundation, said this gift is a generous demonstration of Corewell Health’s support of the college’s mission of “Transforming lives through quality education.”

“We are so appreciative of Corewell Health’s pledge. Their support plays a vital role in enhancing the educational opportunities for a variety of students by helping alleviate some of the financial burden of attending college, which allows them to focus more on achieving their education,” Lund said.

MCC’s “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign is designed to allocate $7 million to developing programs to help students gain access and be successful at MCC.

The lead initiative of the “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign is a $5 million renovation of the Kenneth J. Smith Instructional Building. The Smith Building is a major campus destination as it holds more than half of the college’s Sidney campus classroom space, its flagship nursing program, and courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Having opened this spring, the Smith Building is the college’s Center for Nursing & Health Careers and the Center for STEM Learning. Specialized spaces include clinical simulation labs, preparation and debriefing rooms, treatment rooms, a clinical testing and training apartment lab, science and biology labs, phlebotomy labs and specialized student learning spaces, as well as the addition of specialized equipment and technology.

In addition to the Smith Building renovation, other campaign initiatives include:

• $500,000 toward a STEM Program Development and Technology Fund for equipment, technology and curriculum to support teaching and learning.
• $500,000 toward First-Generation Scholarships to benefit students who are the first in their family to go to college.
• $250,000 toward Mid-Career Scholarships to benefit middle-income students who do not qualify for financial aid, but also do not have the means to pay cash for college.
• $450,000 toward Program-Specific Scholarships to benefit students in specific program pathways.
• $300,000 toward the MCC Express Conductor Program to provide a point of contact (conductor) to work with students from their first point of contact with the college to the time they enter classes and throughout their time at MCC.

For more information about MCC’s “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign, visit montcalm.edu/mccf or contact MCCF Executive Director Lisa Lund at lisal@montcalm.edu or 989-328-1284.

Media contact:
Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833