Foundation Connections

This year marks the 10th annual Family First giving campaign, held by the NBCC Foundation, for all NBCC and Affiliates staff and board members. This campaign, which started in 2012, rallies support from staff and board members across the entire NBCC and Affiliates organization. This includes staff from NBCC, the NBCC Foundation, and the Center for Credentialing & Education alongside each organization’s board of directors or board of trustees. One of the main goals of the campaign is to reach 100% participation from all staff and board members.

Every contribution given to the Foundation as a part of the Family First giving campaign supports the NBCC Foundation military and rural scholarships, which provide financial support to master’s-level counseling students who are committed to serving their communities and target populations for a minimum of two years after graduation. In 2016, the NBCC Foundation was able to provide its first dedicated $5,000 Family First Scholarship, which was fully-funded as a result of staff and board contributions. In 2017, contributors raised $8,000, which has been the goal ever since. The scholarship is awarded to a student in the local Triad region of North Carolina, where NBCC’s headquarters is based, as often as possible based on applicant pools.

The 2020–2021 Family First Scholarship recipient, Dionne Phillips, is a third-year student at North Carolina A&T State University, located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Phillips is also a graduate of Hampton University and a retired U.S. Army officer and psychiatric nurse. Phillips shares that her passion for service came from the example her mother set for her as she lived a life dedicated to service of others.

After graduation, Phillips plans to pair her skills as a Board Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse and Clinical Mental Health Counselor to better advocate for, educate, and improve our evolving mental health care system through evidence-based practice. She has a passion for women and girls as well as underserved and marginalized populations. She intends to do her part to collaborate with some of her community's most vulnerable populations with a compassionate heart, encouraging clients to use their influence to create a new story, mindset, and manner of coping for their future.

She shares that being selected as a recipient of this scholarship will provide her the opportunity to learn from motivated and experienced leaders in the profession. Additionally, it will allow her to glean from those who are invested in and dedicated to the growth and prosperity of their colleagues and the populations served, which will strengthen her professional identity as a counselor. She is grateful to the NBCC family for this scholarship support, as it has allowed her to continue on schedule to complete her degree despite the hurdles she and many others have faced recently.

Since 2010, the NBCC Foundation Scholarship Program has awarded over $876,000 in scholarship awards to nearly 200 individuals serving military, rural, and other underserved and never-served populations. The program is fully supported by the contributions and support of donors committed to bridging the gap in mental health services for these communities. Your donation will support and empower future counselors, like Dionne and many others giving back around the world. Learn more about our scholars by visiting our website and make your donation today.  

Read more articles »