LCS Northwest – North Puget Sound District has awarded its 2019-20 Cascade People’s Center Scholarship to a record number of eight individuals. This year’s scholarship awards totaled $25,500. Two of our scholarship recipients offered to share their stories:

Nikita (center) says thanks the Everett CRC staff.

Nikita and his family arrived in the United States in 2015 when they won a Green Card. In his homeland of Moldova, Nikita liked sports and he participated in them in his new country. His family turned to Everett Community Resource Center to help provide him with school supplies. The center also helped connect his mother with immigration consultations. 

When Nikita’s mother heard about the Cascade People’s Center Scholarship, she encouraged her son to apply for it. He did and was awarded a scholarship. He will use it at the University of Washington where he is studying Computer Science. Nikita is grateful to the support he has received from LCS Northwest, and is especially thankful for Larisa Liuticova’s and Inessa Kozlova’s assistance.

Slava’s family came to the US in 2015 from Uzbekistan. His parents divorced after their arrival, and Slava and his two younger brothers lived with their mother. The family first connected with Everett Community Resource Center at last year’s National Night Out and Back to School Event.

Slava began taking college courses through the Running Start program but he was unsure how he could afford to continue his studies. He applied for the Cascade People’s Center Scholarship in May and was selected as a recipient. He will apply it at Bellevue College where is studying Computer Science. Slava is grateful to the scholarship from LCS Northwest. He can “attend school, help support his family and take some of the stress off my single mom.”

The Cascade People’s Center Scholarship is named after a former Family Support Center operated by LCS Northwest from 1998-2010 in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The fund was established by a Lutheran attorney and his client. They were inspired by a young woman who was motivated to attend college because of her experience at the center. Since its inception in 2012, the fund has awarded over $106,000 to help 18 individuals associated with North Puget Sound programs with financial assistance for post-secondary education.