My commitment to improving the outcomes of African American women impacted by domestic violence and substance abuse is born out of lived experience, observation, and active advocacy. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, I witnessed the devastating toll that family instability and substance struggles take on Black households. All too often, African American women suffer in silence due to a lack of accessible, culturally competent resources and the heavy generational stigmas surrounding abuse. This silence is something I actively work to break. Over the years, I have served as a critical support system for multiple close friends who have navigated the trauma of family and relationship domestic violence. Being the person they trusted to lean on during their darkest moments taught me that survival requires a community. It deepened my understanding of how deeply domestic abuse isolates victims, and it solidified my passion to turn this informal support into my life's work. This drive led me to pursue a degree in Psychology, transferring to Morgan State University (an HBCU) to gain the specialized, culturally competent education needed to heal our communities. As an aspiring Couples and Family Therapist, I will establish trauma-informed, financially accessible therapy practices specifically tailored to Black women. Linda Hicks’ legacy of resilience despite suffering in silence reminds me of why this work is so urgent. By providing relatable representation, I will ensure that the next generation of Black women has the professional advocate, the resources, and the safe spaces they deserve to heal and thrive.

My name is Krislynne Howard, and I am a first-generation college student, a Missouri resident, and an aspiring Couples and Family Therapist dedicated to helping underserved communities heal from trauma. My path has been shaped by personal adversity and a profound realization of what is missing in our collective approach to mental health. Currently, I am transferring from Rockhurst University in Missouri to Morgan State University, a historically Black university (HBCU). This transition is a deliberate step to equip myself with the cultural competence and specialized training required to serve, protect, and heal minority families. Although my major is Psychology, my career goals are deeply rooted in the core values of social work: service, social justice, and the importance of human relationships. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, in a complex family environment, I witnessed firsthand the daily impacts of family instability and communication breakdowns. These experiences sparked my passion to help families navigate crises before they tear households apart. More personally, I carry the lived experience of surviving sexual trauma. When I went through my experience, I did not have a support system. I did not know anyone I felt safe talking to, nor did I have access to resources to help me process what happened. This isolation taught me a painful lesson: the trauma of sexual violence is heavily compounded by the silence that follows it. In many communities, these topics are treated as taboo, leaving survivors to carry a heavy, silent burden that leads to lifelong mental health struggles and fractured relationships. My decision to become a Couples and Family Therapist is my direct response to this silence. I plan to use my education to ensure that no survivor has to navigate the aftermath of abuse alone. Rather than treating trauma as solely an individual issue, my clinical approach will focus on the systemic dynamics of the family. By entering the field as a family therapist, I will be uniquely positioned to help families identify warning signs, address root causes of dysfunction, and break generational cycles of silence. In my future practice, I plan to address sexual violence by establishing trauma-informed therapy practices that are financially accessible to low-income and minority communities. I will also collaborate with schools and community centers to integrate mental health education, teaching youth how to identify healthy boundaries and seek help safely. Finally, as an African-American woman who has walked this path, I want to provide the representation desperately needed in this field; creating a relatable, safe space where survivors feel seen and believed. The RISE UP Project believes in a community free from sexual violence. While we work toward that future, we must fiercely support those currently healing. My ambition is fueled by my past, my drive is sustained by my education at Morgan State, and my ultimate impact will be measured by the families I help heal. This scholarship will empower me to stand on the front lines, break the silence, and give survivors the voice they deserve.

My name is Krislynne Howard, and I am a resilient, goal-oriented student who believes that every challenge in life serves a greater purpose. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, my upbringing was shaped by a complex family dynamic. I grew up living primarily with my mother and two brothers, rotating to my father’s house every other weekend to spend time with him and my four other siblings. As a young child, the constant back-and-forth did not feel stressful; I simply looked forward to seeing my family. However, as I grew older, the underlying fractures within our family structure began to surface. I witnessed intense verbal arguments regarding scheduling and holidays, and experienced the emotional weight of a household strained by communication breakdowns. Exposure to these adult conflicts taught me lessons about emotional distress long before I was mature enough to process them. Yet, rather than allowing these environments to break my spirit, they fueled a deep desire within me to understand human relationships and heal generational fractures. Growing up, my immediate outlet was sports. Throughout high school, I channeled my energy into becoming a dedicated student-athlete, competing at high levels in basketball, volleyball, and track. My ultimate dream was to pursue sports long-term. However, life redirected me during my senior year when I suffered a devastating ACL injury during a basketball game. Compounding this challenge, my high school lacked the athletic recognition and recruiting visibility necessary to easily bounce back from such an injury. This forced a massive shift in my identity. Stripped of the sport that had defined my daily routine, I was compelled to look inward and evaluate alternative career paths. It was during this period of reflection that I recalled my childhood experiences and realized a profound pull toward community and family advocacy. Initially, my understanding of the mental health field was limited. I knew I wanted to support families, but lacked guidance on the specific professional pathways available. My high school teachers could not offer much clarity, leading me to initially research occupational therapy. I mistakenly believed it centered heavily on family counseling, but it was not until I enrolled at Rockhurst University and spoke deeply with my academic advisor that I fully understood the scope of the profession. Learning that occupational therapy focused primarily on physical rehabilitation and daily living skills rather than emotional mechanics, I immediately pivoted. I declared my major in Psychology, realizing it was the exact vehicle I needed to achieve my true calling: becoming a licensed Couples and Family Therapist. Currently, I am preparing for a transformative milestone in my academic career. I am transferring from Rockhurst University, a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in Missouri, to Morgan State University, a historically Black university (HBCU) in Maryland. Having spent my entire life in Missouri, leaving my home state is both terrifying and exhilarating. However, this transition is a necessary step in my professional and personal development. Attending an HBCU offers me the invaluable opportunity to immerse myself in an environment surrounded by educators, mentors, and peers who share my cultural background. To effectively treat a community, one must deeply understand its collective nuances, strengths, and unique historical traumas. Morgan State will provide the culturally competent education I need to effectively serve Black families. The Alberta Bean Scholarship honors a woman who demonstrated immense resilience, working tirelessly to provide a better future for her children despite an eighth-grade education and the loss of her parents. As a first-generation college student, I embody that same drive to transcend circumstances. My career aspirations are born directly out of personal familiarity with mental illness, substance abuse, financial instability, and the fractures that break children within a household. I know firsthand the mental toll these environments take on youth. My education is not just a path to personal success; it is a tool for systemic healing. Armed with a degree from Morgan State University and subsequent graduate training, I plan to establish affordable, accessible therapy practices specifically tailored to underserved communities. I want to demystify mental health care for my people, breaking the stigma that often prevents Black families from seeking psychological support. By validating their experiences and providing relatable, professional guidance, I will help heal households from the inside out, ensuring that the next generation of children grows up in stable, emotionally secure homes.

Watching my great grandma navigate the fog of dementia was the first time I realized that "strength" is often a silent, painful burden. Seeing a woman who was once the pillar of our family struggle to remember my name or perform the simplest tasks on her own didn't just break my heart; it fundamentally reshaped my beliefs. It taught me that mental health is not just about the mind; it is the very fabric of our dignity, our history, and our connection to those we love. As a first-generation college student, my journey with mental health has been defined by this bridge between the personal and the clinical. My great-grandma struggle showed me the gaps in how our community understands cognitive and emotional health. Seeing my grandma, mom, and aunt become caregivers to my great grandma has shown me some things. Each sharing the responsibility to make sure that she is taken care of, but none of them knowing exactly what is needed to do and carrying all the weight, has made me want to be that person who people come to for the best help. Given those who need advice will be fulfilling to me in my career aspect. These experiences alone have sharpened my aspirations with a sense of urgency. I do not simply want to be a therapist; I aspire to be a Couples and Family Therapist who specializes in helping families navigate the trauma of cognitive decline and the systemic failures that often accompany it. Knowing and understanding that mental health has a major impact on people's lives encourages me to expand my knowledge of these situations and provide the best service possible. My current research into emotional regulation and truancy intervention is fueled by the same desire: to catch people before they fall through the cracks of a system that often ignores the mental health of the most vulnerable. I want to take my real-life experiences of watching my great grandma slowly deteriorate mentally as the foundation to push me as a therapist and apply what I learn to a world that is desperate for healing. By destigmatizing these conversations, I plan to honor my great-grandma's legacy. My goal is to ensure that no family has to suffer in the dark, and that mental health care is viewed not as a luxury for the few, but as a fundamental necessity for every family unit.