After serving in the Army National Guard for approximately eight years, Idamae Wallace, a recipient of the Daniel’s Fund Boundless Opportunities Scholarship, returned to the U in 2014. She received financial support through the Post-911 GI Bill, which paid 40 percent of her school tuition. However, due to a shortage of active duty time, the Veterans Administration reduced those funds, causing Wallace’s financial situation to become dire. “My husband and I work hard to support our young family and what income we receive goes to that,” she says. “We are unable to afford my school tuition on our own. The Boundless Opportunity Scholarship has and will continue to help me to afford my school tuition and eventually to fulfill my dream of becoming a teacher.” She adds if it weren’t for “the wonderful women that work in the [U’s] Women’s Resource Center” she would not have been able to continue at the U.

In another case, after a 29-year absence from school and multiple careers, Tres Hatch returned to the U to get the credentials necessary to grow her company. Her dream is to expand her health-coaching practice to a full family mental health clinic. While in school, her household income decreased by more than half. “The tug-of-war between time and money means I can go to school, but cannot earn enough money to pay for it,” she says. Receiving the Boundless Opportunity Scholarship from the Daniels Fund has played a significant part in paying her tuition. “I cannot express how grateful I am for this support and for the future opportunities this generous award will provide not only to me, but also to the team of women professionals I plan to hire.”

These examples typify the way U students are being impacted by the generosity of the Daniels Fund’s Boundless Opportunity Scholarship. The fund is open to select schools in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico and recently renewed $25,000 of support for the Women’s Resource Center. The scholarship supports highly motivated, non-traditional students who recognize the power of education in creating a better life for themselves and their families. To date, 44 students (both men and women) have received the scholarship through the center, with award amounts ranging from $500 to $1,000 per semester, depending on full or part-time status. “That has brought many men into the Women’s’ Resource Center who now see our office as supportive of their education through resources, advocacy, and counseling services,” says Kim Hall, the center’s associate director.

The Women’s Resource Center awards on average a total of $220,000 in scholarships each year to between 80 and 110 students. In an effort to ensure that students make it to graduation, they may give a Boundless Opportunity Scholarship recipient additional monies from other scholarships (for example the Osher Scholarship, which has similar criteria). And as Hall says, “Leveraging the Boundless Opportunity Scholarship with other scholarships and financial support allows us to retain and graduate more students at the U.”