Rise Up Program awards scholarships to East Texas students (2024)

CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System’s Rise Up program partnered with TJC to award more than $44,000 to local East Texas students who participated in the program aimed at educating and guiding them in a health care careers, including: laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, pharmacy, EMS and nursing.

The Rise Up program, in its second year at the hospital system, focuses on reaching high school students in underserved communities to show them diverse opportunities in health care.

Students involved with the program take part in multiple events that educate them on careers in healthcare and give them an opportunity to sign-up for our job shadowing program at various departments within CHRISTUS hospitals and clinics.

“The staff at our hospitals and clinics absolutely love seeing the passion these students have when they come to see us,” said Siretha Toston-Ajayi, mission integration program director for CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances. “There is no substitute for real-world, on-the-job experience, and we love that the students are taking advantage.”

The Rise Up program saw more than 1,400 students participate in an opportunity fair hosted by CHRISTUS, which gave students the chance to meet health care professionals and explore various opportunities and career paths in the health care field.

Thanks to a partnership with the Tyler Junior College Foundation and the June S. Flock Scholarship Endowment, 37 Rise Up students received scholarships totaling more than $44,000.

Several schools from across East Texas had students that were awarded scholarships: Carlisle, Chapel Hill, Grand Saline, Henderson, Lindale, Mabank, Tyler High, Tyler Legacy, Van and Winona.

Ashley Stroud, a registered nurse at Mother Frances Hospital and teacher at Van High School, recalled when one of her students who shadowed her received her scholarship. “She came to me and had tears in her eyes,” Stroud said. “The Rise Up scholarship is life changing for her and will give her the opportunity to pursue a career in health care and her set her on her path of achieving her dream of becoming a doctor.”

CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System includes CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospitals — Tyler, South Tyler, Jacksonville, Winnsboro, and Sulphur Springs, the CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital — Tyler, CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rehabilitation Hospital, a partner of Encompass Health, Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital, a long-term acute care facility, and CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic. CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic is the multi-specialty medical group of CHRISTUS Health, with more than 1,300 clinicians representing over 300 locations serving Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

For more information on CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System services, visit christushealth.org.

—Amber Lollar can be reached at alollar@thehendersonnews.com