My name is Tamisha Humphrey, and I am a woman of faith, resilience, and purpose. I am currently pursuing my education to make a lasting impact on the lives of children and families, especially in underserved communities. My desired field allows me to connect my passions for education, advocacy, and encouragement to help others overcome barriers and discover their full potential. As someone who has faced personal hardships, health struggles, and difficult environments, I understand the significance of having people who genuinely care and pour into others. Because of this, I want my career to be centered around uplifting, teaching, and empowering those who may feel overlooked or unheard. I currently work within the school system, and that background has shown me how deeply children need support, patience, and positive role models. Numerous students come to school harboring emotional, behavioral, and academic challenges that are often related to circumstances beyond their control. I want to be an educator and advocate who not only teaches but also inspires confidence, healing, and hope. My goal is to create safe and encouraging spaces where children feel cherished and capable of success, regardless of their background. Beyond my career goals, I am passionate about ministry and community motivation. I recently accepted my calling as an evangelist, and I strongly believe in using my voice to inspire, uplift, and speak life into others. Whether through education, mentorship, worship, or outreach, I want to make a positive influence by helping people believe in themselves again. Too many individuals are silently battling depression, insecurity, trauma, and hopelessness. I want to be someone who reminds them that their story still has meaning. One cause that is especially important to me is supporting children and families who struggle emotionally, financially, or mentally. Growing up and even as an adult, I have seen how difficult life circumstances can affect confidence and opportunities. Every child deserves access to encouragement, quality education, emotional support, and adults who truly care about their well-being. This cause matters deeply to me because I am also a mother, and I understand the desire to create a better future not only for myself but also for my son. Everything I am working toward is bigger than me. I want my son to see perseverance, faith, and education modeled in his everyday life. If awarded this scholarship, it would help me meet my educational goals by easing some of the financial burdens of balancing school, work, and motherhood. Like many students, I face challenges balancing providing for my family with continuing my education. This scholarship would allow me to focus more fully on my studies, complete my degree successfully, and build a future in which I can make a meaningful difference in my community. Impact is not always estimated by fame or recognition, but by the lives we touch every day. Through education, faith, compassion, and service, I plan to leave an optimistic mark on the world by helping others see their worth and empowering them to succeed despite adversity.

My name is Tamisha Humphrey, and I am an evangelist, teacher assistant, psychology major at Belhaven University, author, single mother, and survivor of domestic violence. Every part of my journey has cultivated my desire to serve marginalized communities through mental health advocacy and compassionate care. My personal incidents with trauma, survival, and healing have given me profound wisdom of how mental health challenges often go unnoticed in underserved communities, particularly among women, single mothers, survivors of abuse, and people of faith. While carrying my only child, I survived domestic violence, an experience that stretched my emotional, spiritual, and mental strength. During that season, I discovered how important access to emotional support, counseling, and safe spaces can be for someone trying to reconstruct their life. Instead of permitting my pain to silence me, I decided to transform it into purpose. As an evangelist, healing involves both spiritual and emotional restoration. Many people in marginalized communities struggle in silence because of stigma, fear, the absence of resources, or cultural beliefs surrounding mental health. I intend to bridge that gap by constructing services and outreach programs that connect psychological education, faith-based encouragement, trauma-informed care, and community support. My goal is to help individuals understand that seeking mental health support is not a deficiency but a strength. Investigating psychology has reinforced my desire to become a champion for mental wellness and social change. Through my education and work as a teacher assistant, I have gained insight into how emotional struggles affect learning, confidence, relationships, and personal growth. These incidents continue to inspire me to work toward creating accessible mental health programs for youth, women, survivors of abuse, and underserved families. As an author, I also hope to use my voice and testimony to encourage healing and resilience in others. Representation matters, and I want people to see someone who understands adversity firsthand yet rises with faith, education, and determination. My activism is embedded in empathy, empowerment, and service. I aspire to become a mental health professional who not only delivers counseling services but also advocates for systemic change, community education, and greater awareness of trauma and emotional wellness. My life experiences have prepared me for even the most toughest of times. It has shown me that pain can become purpose when used to uplift others. Through faith, education, advocacy, and compassionate service, I am determined to make a lasting positive impact within marginalized communities.

My experiences shaped my educational goals and passions for supporting African American women impacted by domestic violence and substance abuse tremendously because I was one. While carrying my son, I experienced domestic violence constantly. It broke something in me afterward. I lost my faith in God, not even realizing that God was the one who pulled me out of the dark place that I was in. I was able to leave him at 35 weeks pregnant,t but that day still shaped me. That was the day he actually tried to kill me. He kneed me and punched my stomach. He choked me and everything. I will never forget that day because it was when God gave me the strength to get out! Shortly, I began causing harm to myself. I wanted to die once I had my son. I tried committing suicide, but God would not let go of me. He saved my life. After that, I accepted God's will. I fully surrendered, and that's when I wrote a children's book (Braxton's Blessing Jar). Then, I created a coloring book for children(God Says I Am). I started walking in my calling as an evangelist in March 2026. I have been using my story as a story of Triumph to encourage women and let them know that they can make it. You can do ALL things through Jesus Christ. He loves you, and he will never fail you.

How I Am Working to Address an Important Social Issue I am working to address the social issues of silence around trauma, domestic violence, and the lack of emotional and spiritual support for women and children, particularly those navigating hardship while trying to survive, parent, and remain whole. My advocacy is rooted in lived experience. While pregnant with my son, I survived domestic violence, plunging emotional isolation, and overwhelming shame. I was bearing life while silently battling to protect my own. During that season, I lost my sense of identity and labored deeply with my faith. I felt disqualified not only as a woman, but as a believer, challenging whether God still saw me or had a purpose for my life. Like many women, I suffered quietly, believing my pain was something I had to endure alone. That season became the foundation of my unreleased memoir, The Test. This work is not simply a story of hardship; it is a testimony of survival, faith rediscovered, and restoration after trauma. The Test contends the realities many women live with but seldom speak about abuse during pregnancy, shame within faith spaces, and the loneliness that reaches from acknowledging your story makes you unworthy of grace or leadership. By communicating this testimony, I aim to break the cycle of silence that traps so many women. Beyond writing, I work to address these issues through education, storytelling, and emotional healing tools, especially for children. I am the author of Braxton’s Blessing Jar and the upcoming children’s book Braxton’s Big Feelings and God’s Big Love, which help children understand emotions, gratitude, and faith in practical ways. These books were born out of my desire to give my son and other children what I did not always have growing up: language for feelings, safety in expression, and reassurance that God meets us where we are. As a speaker and worship leader, I create spaces where women feel seen and safe enough to tell the truth. I speak candidly about trauma, identity loss, and reconstructing faith, not to relive pain, but to show what healing looks like in real life. Worship is also part of this work; ministering through music allows healing to reach places where words sometimes cannot. My grandparents raised me in the Mississippi Delta, where resilience and faith were necessities, not luxuries. That upbringing cultivated my devotion to serving underserved communities with honesty and compassion. My work today is about converting pain into purpose and ensuring that women and children know their stories do not disqualify them from hope, education, or leadership. This scholarship would instantly support my continued education and advocacy, permitting me to extend my reach and deepen my impact. I am dedicated to using every opportunity designated to me to uplift others, amplify unheard voices, and create pathways for healing where silence once lived.

Tamisha Humphrey: Christian-Based Mental Health Advocate My name is Tamisha Humphrey, and I am fervent about making an optimistic and enduring influence within marginalized communities through Christian-based mental health services. I am pursuing a Psychology degree at Belhaven University and will earn my alternative teaching license by 2028. I aim to be a beacon of hope and support for people, particularly children, who may feel neglected or vulnerable in life's challenges. Grounded in my Christian faith, I strive to construct spaces where mental health care and spiritual direction coexist, helping people find healing, purpose, and strength. Mental health struggles have been a very real and personal part of my journey. Throughout my life, I have encountered considerable hardships, including abuse and sexual assault. These severe incidents shaped the resilient and empathetic person I am today. I firmly believe that everything we bear serves a more significant purpose, and I have dedicated myself to using my ventures as a testimony and tool for helping others. Rather than living with regret, I welcome my past as a part of my story that has equipped me to offer compassion, understanding, and real-world direction to others walking similar paths. My ventures with trauma have significantly affected my beliefs, activism, and career aspirations. They have ingrained in me a strong passion for championing marginalized individuals' mental and emotional well-being, especially Black children, who often face compounded layers of trauma that go unnoticed or untreated. In many marginalized communities, mental health is still a taboo subject, usually concealed behind stigmas and misinformation. By providing Christian-based mental health services, I hope to bridge the gap between religion and psychological support, helping people to see that caring for their mental health is not a symbol of feebleness but an examination of divine strength and wisdom. My career aspirations include earning my Bachelor's degree with a concentration in Child Psychology. I feel a deep calling to operate with the youth, providing them with early interventions, emotional aid, and the tools to steer life's hardships with confidence and faith. Concentrating on child psychology, I aim to detect issues early, empower families, and foster environments where children feel safe, valued, and capable of thriving despite misfortune. Ultimately, my vision is to create Christian-centered mental health programs that are obtainable, culturally sensitive, and deeply rooted in love and healing. Through workshops, counseling services, mentorship programs, and community outreach, I want to provide hope where there has been despair and promote healing where there has been hurt. My oath to this work derives not only from my scholarly goals but also from a deeply personal place. My assignment is to ensure that no child or individual feels alone in their pain and can find their way to completeness through faith, support, and professional care.