My name is Ivory Marshall. I am a recovering addict. On February 17th, 2020, I learned that at the end of a twenty-two-year run in active addiction, I had become pregnant. This was merely weeks before the pandemic began to shut down businesses. The rooms of 12-step meetings were kicked out of church basements. While these circumstances were drastic, I learned just how limited resources were to people like me. My desperation to stay clean and become a mom was enough to push me through the hard days. While the limit to gather was 10 people per household in lockdown status, the cops would frequently be called as I held AA/NA meetings in my studio apartment. It soon grew too large, and we had to begin meeting on a friend's front lawn. One week later, she and I organized a meeting in a public park, where there was room for people to socially distance themselves, while also receiving a message of hope and recovery. We met daily at 6 pm, only feet away from the homeless encampment, of which some residents would soon be sitting on the steps with us in recovery. Just before the shutdown, and throughout the ins and outs of lockdowns, I volunteered my time at the front desk of a recovery-based non-profit organization called the Tacoma Recovery Center. It began as shellfish as it comes; needing a place to keep me away from old hangouts, but I grew to love the groups, and the ability to be exactly who I was in the workplace. Everyone who worked there, including the late owner, was in recovery themselves. When hard days came, we went through them transparently, rather than our old ways of trying to fight demons alone. I learned throughout the first eight months of my recovery, between doctor visits, intensive outpatient, and trauma therapy, just how much I had been trying to handle drugs and alcohol. The bigger my belly grew, the more I wanted another coin that signified my time walking the walk. Just before my son was due to arrive, a friend I had met days into my recovery, tragically overdosed. My fears of relapse after my son would no longer depend on my body for survival mounted. I held on tight to the community, and my formal support, as well as my recovery coach at the center. On October 12th, my son arrived by emergency c-section at 2:17 pm. My clean date being 02/17, I knew it was a God shot. There was a plan for me if I stayed the course. My son was only about 4 months old when I decided to pursue an education in mental health. His father, who has remained actively addicted, to this day having only met his son once, was a motivating factor for me. I knew from my journey, that without people who had been through it, to see people like him without judgment, there would never be a chance for them to recover. I also learned that increased knowledge of our disease was fueling my recovery and my ability to help others around me. I started school again in September 2021. April 16th, 2024, I will graduate Summa Cum Laude, with a bachelor’s in psychology and mental health counseling. I will be beginning graduate-level courses to become an LMHC. I plan to continue to advocate for still-suffering addicts and alcoholics. My faith, my son, continued volunteer and service work, and my recovery community has helped me navigate my recovery. I hope to be a beacon of hope for others. Thank you for your consideration.

Amidst the darkest phase of my life, Heather, my substance use disorder counselor, emerged as a guiding light, profoundly shaping my journey and inspiring my pursuit of psychology and mental health counseling. Her support, coupled with her heartfelt and empathetic counsel both before and after learning about my pregnancy, transformed my outlook on life entirely. Now, with a healthy three-year-old son and nearing the completion of my bachelor's degree in psychology and mental health counseling, Heather's influence remains immeasurable. During the tumult of battling substance use disorder, Heather entered my life as more than a counselor; she became a pillar of unwavering support. Her approach went beyond addressing addiction; she delved into the depths of my struggles, offering empathy and guidance that transcended the confines of a counseling session. Amidst the turmoil, when I discovered I was pregnant, Heather's genuine hopes for my well-being resonated deeply as we navigated treatment, pregnancy and a worldwide pandemic as strangers. Her encouragement and belief in my potential to navigate this new chapter alongside my recovery were unwavering. She became not just a counselor, but an advocate for my holistic well-being. Heather's influence extended far beyond our counseling sessions. Her personal stories of overcoming adversity and the transformative power of therapy ignited a fire within me. Her belief in my capabilities, despite the challenges I faced, fueled a desire to pursue higher education in psychology and mental health counseling. There was something transformative about how experiencing a mental health provider for the first time, didn't dismiss me, while she taught me advocacy and in many ways became a vision of how I hoped to provide care to future clients. As my journey towards recovery progressed, Heather's support and mentorship led to a renewed sense of purpose. Her inspiration instilled in me the aspiration to become a beacon of hope and guidance for others, much like she had been for me. Her genuine wishes for my well-being and her continuous support during my pregnancy and recovery became pivotal in reshaping my future. With her encouragement, I returned to school, driven by a newfound passion to help others navigate their paths toward healing and self-discovery. Today, with a thriving three-year-old son and on the cusp of completing my bachelor's degree in psychology and mental health counseling, Heather's impact is profound. Her belief in me and her unwavering support during my most challenging times continue to drive my determination to make a difference in the lives of others. Heather's dedication to her client's well-being and her embodiment of empathy and compassion serve as guiding principles in my journey. Her influence remains a testament to the transformative power of genuine support and mentorship, propelling me forward as I aspire to follow in her footsteps, making a meaningful impact in the field of mental health counseling. I am fortunate today to be volunteering my time alongside her through the nonprofit I have volunteered for in my community for nearly the past four years and have been able to continue to benefit from her admirable way of practicing. While my education and licensure goals have grown in a different direction, I still carry with me a goal of maintaining the same empathetic and powerful impact in my future roll as a mental health care provider.

My name is Ivory Marshall. I am a recovering addict. My clean date is 02/17/2020. I entered recovery when I learned I was going to become a mother to my son, Keaton-John, who will be three years old in just a few weeks. I am currently completing a bachelor's in psychology and mental health counseling, with plans to begin my master's program and become a licensed family and marriage therapist. Since entering recovery, I have graduated from an intensive outpatient program as well as trauma therapy, and have been a volunteer in my community at a recovery-first nonprofit. This year, I have been blessed to bring peer support to inpatient treatment for pregnant and nursing moms. I also am an active service member of Alcoholics Anonymous, as it was most available to me getting clean at the beginning of the pandemic; also attending 12-step program meetings. Navigating the world for everyone has been difficult over the past three years, and recovering while learning how to be a mom has been nothing short of a challenge. I have used the time as wisely as possible, with a graduation date scheduled in April of 2024. I have recently learned that I will be responsible for tuition for my last three classes, as my undergraduate FASFA has been utilized; being selected for this scholarship would change everything in completing my goal as well as in aiding my ability to continue sharing a message of hope and recovery. Thank you for your consideration.

My name is Ivory Marshall. I am the single mother to my little boy Keaton-John and I am pursuing my bachelor's in psychology and mental health counseling. My career goals are to graduate in April 2024, continue in a master's program, and become an LMFT specializing in perinatal and postnatal mental health and trauma. I am also recovering from addiction and have a passion for helping others reach their potential battling addiction and mental health as well. Having battled mental health personally, both before and after entering recovery, and having lost family members and friends to suicide, the field of mental health couldn't be more vital for people like me to be a part of. Relatability from my care providers was always something I connected with after years of seeking help and never feeling understood. If it weren't for some of their empathetic and vulnerable techniques, I may not be here today. Worse, my son may have never been given a chance, as my pregnancy is what prompted my desperation to succeed in finding answers to my deficiencies. I believe that I deserve this scholarship as a person who has changed every part of my internal and external life to support others after helping myself. I have seen what the power of support can do for someone feeling hopeless firsthand. Before entering into recovery, I had completed my first associate degree, unknowingly utilizing a majority of my available undergraduate funding through FASFA. When I decided to go back to school, I found out that only thirty-nine credits from that degree were transferable to university, meaning I had to start way further behind than I originally thought at ninety credits. I went back, regardless in September of 2021 and just after completing my second associate at the beginning of 2023, I was notified that I would run out of undergraduate; funding for nine credits, three classes, and two terms before my graduation date for my bachelor's. As a single mother choosing to raise him close for many reasons relating to my values, and of course the enormous financial expense of child care, I have been fortunate enough to rent from family and work part-time from home, navigating the expenses as they come. But try as I might, saving the last bit of tuition has proved extremely taxing. Finally, after applying for a private loan and being denied, I am back on the track of faith and applying for scholarships that align with my goals and passions with a promise to go forward appreciating any award I may be blessed with and using it to close out this chapter with my last two deans list letters from Waldorf Univeristy. Closing out this chapter and moving into a graduate program will undoubtedly change life for my son and me, and anyone I am fortunate enough to work with in the future. Through my volunteer work as a peer counselor, I already know this is what I am meant to do with my life. Taking my academic and real-life lessons, and capitalizing on the knowledge to share hope and recovery with all different walks of life seeking help and healing in their lives is the reason I believe I have gone through what I have gone through. If I am not selected, I would like to thank you for what you are doing. I am certain that an impact will be made on whoever is selected in the most positive of ways. If I am fortunate enough to be selected, we will be eternally grateful. Thank you for your time.

My name is Ivory Marshall, and I am currently enrolled in a bachelor’s program at Waldorf University for psychology and mental health counseling. On February 17th of 2020 after learning I was going to be a mom, I found the strength to address my mental health, addiction, and grief. I was fortunate enough to find empathetic formal support aiding in my healing journey. That support along with my work in the community inspired me in a way I never expected. During the first year of my recovery, it became clear that if I wanted to remain in recovery, I would need to stay close to people who had what I wanted and invest time into my own healing and mental health. I volunteered throughout my pregnancy for a recovery-first non-profit. Most individuals we worked with were suffering from elongated grief, unhealed traumas, and other issues to the lifestyles they found themselves subjected to. The women’s groups I attended helped me accept my grief and provided a safe space where I could show up exactly as I was without fear of judgment. A space where we could process the world and all the issues that seemed to increase throughout the pandemic. The ability to walk with women, connecting vulnerably gave me an incredible perspective on where my thinking had stunted me in life. It also honored many of my values and beliefs, I previously felt shameful or scared to share as a mother. It was during this time that I felt a shift happening in my heart. My volunteer work continued in different capacities after my son arrived, while I remained in trauma therapy and intensive outpatient. Nearing his first birthday, I decided to become a therapist, with the hope of specializing in women’s issues and mothers. Motherhood has been the greatest gift of my life. It allowed me to open my eyes to the ways I see our world is broken, but rather than wallow in my feelings of helplessness, do something to change it. Motherhood comes with a never-ending concern about how to care properly for our children and ourselves. A constant worry for safety, and good health. The inevitable realization that we can’t possibly protect them forever. The more I learn about being a mother, and women as well as the statistics regarding mental health affecting women; I am reminded of the challenges mothers face while trying to care for their children. I am reminded of the rise of crime, addiction, and untreated mental health issues often at the root of it all. I have become convinced that we can be doing more to prevent the growth of this burdensome and growing culture that only contributes to tragedy. Pursuing my academic and career goals while raising a son alone comes with its trials and tribulations, however, I continuously am provided new insights into the struggles often experienced by women. I plan to continue to meld my education, and lived experiences, and brainstorm with influential community members, to see how we can provide services and safe spaces for mothers and women, and their children. The hypothetical village mothers must rely on while finding footing in motherhood given any of life-provided stressors, grief, or mental health struggles is a concept that is out of touch and in many cases unheard of. I am confident that as my education continues, I will be able to further my abilities to positively impact the lives of others. Thank you for your time and consideration.

My name is Ivory Marshall. On February 17th of 2023, we celebrated my 3rd year of continuous sobriety. I entered recovery upon learning I was going to become a mother to my now two-and-a-half-year-old son, Keaton-John. Leaving behind that lifestyle and the father of my unborn child was incredibly frightening, especially given the situation that revealed itself a few weeks after entering recovery at the beginning of the worldwide pandemic. Regardless of fear, I asked for help. I began a membership and volunteer position with a local recovery-first nonprofit. This changed everything for us. I attended many support groups available at the Tacoma Recovery Center, my favorite being the women’s group. I don’t believe I ever had sober friends or friends with children I kept in regular contact with before meeting this group. It became a safe place for me to begin healing, surrounded by moms facing their battles, healing their broken hearts, without using drugs or alcohol. Along with attendance, I began helping other members in obtaining resources that aided them in addressing their own addiction and mental health issues. We focused on locating treatment and detox beds and housing, which proved difficult during the pandemic. Before discovering my rock bottom, I had rather strong opinions on individuals that I was now serving just to stay sober. It was humbling, to say the least. While I had been a “functioning addict”, I began to realize how dangerous my actions were. The issue remains that regardless of race, age, religion, privilege, or academic background, people have fallen into the pit of addiction, and for most, the lifestyle that accompanied it. Some had fled from everything they knew, to save themselves and their children from domestic violence. My opinions of others quickly changed. Where I previously felt judgmental of their ability to handle their circumstances, I now saw people just like me, who realized their coping would soon rob them of their life. The gift of desperation. After my son was born, I remained active in volunteering and various service positions. I continued my mental health journey. The more I healed the more I wanted to help others. I knew furthering my education could allow me to serve the community in a bigger way. I could take my lived experience and identify areas of the system that felt difficult to navigate and advocate for change. Eventually, this desire led me to my current undergraduate program for psychology and mental health counseling where I have remained on the dean’s list each term. I believe this is due to a recognized empathy for others. Additionally, in remaining a volunteer with the center, currently, co-facilitating a meeting of recovery for pregnant and nursing mother’s inpatient detox program; I have been able to identify my focus. Women. All the hats we are expected to wear, while calmly deciding to break generational traumas, financially supporting, and nurturing our children, while regardless of marital status, we must fulfill everyone else’s needs before our own. Mental health decidedly has become our best effort at self-care. I plan to help families, and mothers, in the burdensome task it seems to overcome the trials and tribulations of parenting, mental health, and addiction recovery. To continue to share the gifts of recovery through the power of knowledge and community. To grow a village safe to heal, learn, grow, and break generational traumas. To provide empathetic therapeutic support, helping remove obstacles of oppression found on uphill battles known by many suffering mental health, addiction, and other social issues, because simply put, I must. Thank you for your time and consideration.

In February 2020, I found out that I was going to become a mother, at a time that I now consider the rock bottom and defining moment of my life. I was newly single, completely alone, in a mental health crisis, and addicted. The knowledge of my pregnancy provided a glimmer of hope for the future. I could stay the same, and lose my newfound purpose, or change everything to become a mom. I chose life. I found a recovery coach and support at a local recovery-based nonprofit organization called the Tacoma Recovery Center. During the pandemic, I was able to volunteer throughout my pregnancy and since delivering my son in October 2020. I decided to pursue a career in the mental health field, initially in substance use disorder counseling. However, after a bit of time, I have discovered a much greater desire to be able to provide care to individuals with the desire to overcome a wider variety of mental health struggles, as I have worked with such a diverse community of individuals. My new goal is to complete my bachelor’s in psychology and mental health counseling, followed by a master’s in clinical mental health counseling so that I can become a licensed mental health counselor. While pursuing this degree, I have remained in service positions in the recovery community, and recently trained and passed the state requirements to become a certified peer counselor, which has given me a new perspective as well as training on trauma-informed care and person-first language as a skill. I have come to believe that the combination of academia, lived experience, and various opportunities to work in the field as a volunteer or service member has provided me with opportunities to be sure of certain things I would like to pursue and provide as services to my future clients. I also have discovered that I am extremely interested in developing a nonprofit organization that will provide different types of support to new mothers who may be afflicted with mental health and other women’s issues. If I continue this work, I know that my goals and what is possible will reveal itself. None of this comes easy being in recovery myself, however, I think gratitude and determination, keep me grounded and open to continue growing as a woman and a mother. Without the help and empathy of the professionals I was fortunate enough to work with, I may not even be here today. My passion to take the difficulties I have survived and put them to good use by helping others in their recovery journey, whatever that may be, has given me a cause. Thank you for your time and consideration.

In February 2020, I found out that I was going to become a mother, at a time that I now consider the rock bottom and defining moment of my life. I was newly single, completely alone, in a mental health crisis, and addicted. The knowledge of my pregnancy provided a glimmer of hope for the future. I could stay the same, and lose my newfound purpose, or change everything to become a mom. I chose life. I found a recovery coach and support at a local recovery-based nonprofit organization called the Tacoma Recovery Center. During the pandemic, I was able to volunteer throughout my pregnancy and since delivering my son in October 2020. I decided to pursue a career in the mental health field, initially in substance use disorder counseling. However, after a bit of time, I have discovered a much greater desire to be able to provide care to individuals with the desire to overcome a wider variety of mental health struggles, as I have worked with such a diverse community of individuals. My current goal is to complete my bachelor’s in psychology and mental health counseling, followed by a master’s in clinical mental health counseling so that I can become a licensed mental health counselor. While pursuing this degree, I have remained in service positions in the recovery community, and recently trained and passed the state requirements to become a certified peer counselor, which has given me a new perspective as well as trauma-informed care and person-first language as a skill. I have come to believe that the combination of academia, lived experience, and various opportunities to work in the field as a volunteer or service member has provided me with opportunities to be sure of certain things I would like to pursue and provide as services to my future clients. I also have discovered that I am extremely interested in developing a nonprofit organization that will provide different types of support to new mothers and mothers in general that are afflicted with mental health and other women’s issues. If I continue this work, I know that my goals and what is possible will reveal themselves, and likely be greater than I could plan now. None of this comes easy being in recovery myself, however, I think gratitude and determination, keep me grounded and open to continue growing as a woman and a mother. Without the help and empathy of the professionals I was fortunate enough to work with, I may not even be here today. I hope to learn how to provide that type of care and support for the rest of my life to those in need, both professionally and otherwise. My passion to take the difficulties I have survived and put them to good use by helping others in their recovery journey, whatever that may be, has given me a cause. Thank you for your time and consideration.

In February 2020, I found out that I was going to become a mother, at a time that I now consider the rock bottom and defining moment of my life. I was newly single, completely alone, in a mental health crisis, and addicted. The knowledge of my pregnancy provided a glimmer of hope for the future. I could stay the same, and lose my newfound purpose, or change everything to become a mom. I chose life. I found a recovery coach and support at a local recovery-based nonprofit organization called the Tacoma Recovery Center. Over the past three years, I have had the privilege to volunteer at the Tacoma Recovery Center in an array of positions, all working directly with members of the community seeking resources to assist with addiction recovery, mental health resources, housing resources, as well as seeking support after surviving domestic violence and other traumatic events. After entering recovery, my volunteer position served me well and kept me surrounded by people who learned how to live a life serving others while also honoring their journey in mindful ways. During my time volunteering, specifically regarding people experiencing homelessness throughout the beginning stages of the pandemic and thereafter, my mindset shifted drastically. I used to believe that individuals experiencing homelessness may only be there due to addiction and mental health issues. Now I know that not only due to the pandemic and massive increase in the cost of living here in Washington state, as well as a lack of guidance in seeking resources, but there is also a much greater spectrum of individuals who have fallen victim to circumstance. Given my own experiences with mental health and recovery, I have been able to use the lived experiences while assisting others on their journey seeking resources. I was also fortunate enough to be selected to train to become a certified peer counselor through the Washington State Health Care Authority, giving me a new perspective on trauma-informed care and person-first language which has proven incredibly beneficial to my mindset working with the community. While I have been happy remaining a volunteer while pursuing my education in mental health counseling, I have remained unemployed. As a single mother, to find out my undergraduate FAFSA is coming to an end, leaving me with 2 terms to complete my bachelor’s degree, I have found myself in a financial predicament. As a volunteer, I have survived on Pell Grants and lived well within my means, as childcare would take away from my abilities to study as well as the cost of time lost with my young child as his only parent, which seems far greater than monetary loss. I have spent many hours seeking employment I could obtain working from home, as well as seeking grants or scholarships that I could utilize to finish this degree and continue into my graduate program and continue to grow my abilities to serve others in the community while remaining the sole provider for my son, as well as my mother so she can finally retire. My passion to help others is also matched by my goals and desire to provide for my family as they have renewed my faith in ways I cannot explain in words. Thank you for your time and consideration.