This year, Standing With You is continuing the Standing With You Scholarship, an initiative under the Standing With You Scholars Fund designed to directly support pregnant and parenting students pursuing an education. We know that raising a child while earning a degree is no easy task, and our goal is to help lighten the load, financially and practically, for those who choose both their future and their child.
After reviewing an incredible pool of applicants, we’re thrilled to introduce the 12 recipients of the 2026 Standing With You Scholarship: Anna Myers, Alisha Carter, Emma Hamilton, Estrella Ramirez Chavez, Ilyssa Velasquez, Jessie Raflores-Dagdagan, Krystal Porter Bradley, Maria Genovezos, Nyree Oliver, RoMiyah Morton, Unique Collier, and Verayna Newland. They were awarded $2,000 each!
From single mothers balancing full-time work and college to students pursuing advanced degrees, these remarkable women have persevered through tremendous challenges while building brighter futures for themselves and their children. Check out this year’s deserving recipients and their incredible life journeys!
Alisha Carter | J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College
Alisha Carter’s life changed in an instant when the father of her son unexpectedly passed away. Overnight, she found herself overwhelmed by grief, anger, fear, and loneliness while facing the daunting reality of raising a child on her own. She lost her home, relocated, and struggled to continue nursing school while carrying the weight of profound loss.
There were moments when she felt completely broken, yet each day, she chose to keep moving forward for the sake of her son. Through determination, resilience, and love, Alisha began rebuilding her life. Her experience taught her that strength doesn’t mean never falling apart. It means marching on while putting yourself back together.
Today, Alisha is pursuing a nursing career so she can provide others with the care and comfort she once needed herself. Above all, she hopes to show her son that life’s hardest moments do not have to be the end of the story. Even after devastating loss, it is possible to create a future filled with hope, meaning, and beauty.
Anna Myers | Ashland University
At just 11 years old, Anna Myers’ daughter, Hallie, has already fought cancer three separate times. As a single mother, Anna spent countless days and nights at hospitals, putting her daughter’s needs above everything else. The demands of caregiving forced Anna to take unpaid leave during her first year of teaching, costing her an entire year of service.
Many people would have put their own dreams on hold indefinitely. Instead, Anna refused to quit.
While raising Hallie, working three jobs, and navigating one medical crisis after another, Anna earned her teaching license through Ohio’s alternative pathway program. She spent many nights studying in the few quiet moments she could find, determined to create a brighter future for herself and her daughter.
Anna is continuing her education with graduate-level courses while also teaching and serving others. Through every hardship, she has modeled resilience for Hallie, proving that even life’s most difficult circumstances do not have the final word.
Emma Hamilton | University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
The day before law school orientation, Emma Hamilton learned she was pregnant. Suddenly, she faced what many young women are told is an impossible choice: continue pursuing her dream of becoming an attorney or become a mother. Emma chose both.
What followed tested her strength in ways she never anticipated. Her daughter was born early after a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. Shortly after birth, her newborn was rushed to a NICU an hour away. For two weeks, Emma balanced online law classes from hospital waiting rooms while spending every spare moment at her daughter’s bedside.
She spent Easter in the NICU. Finals loomed. Sleep was scarce. Yet Emma persevered. Now entering her final year of law school, Emma serves as a teaching assistant, competes in moot court competitions, and continues building a future for her family. Her story is a powerful reminder that motherhood and ambition are not mutually exclusive.
Estrella Ramirez Chavez | Jacksonville State University
At 13 years old, Estrella Ramirez Chavez immigrated from Mexico to the United States and faced the challenge of adapting to a new country, culture, and language. At 17, she became a mother.
Years later, after earning her associate degree and preparing to continue her education, tragedy struck. While pregnant with her second child, Estrella lost her husband in a devastating accident. Suddenly, she faced unimaginable grief while caring for a young son and preparing to welcome a newborn baby.
Many would have understood if she had stepped away from her educational goals. Instead, Estrella returned to school determined to honor her husband’s memory and create a brighter future for her children. Today, she is pursuing a degree in elementary education while raising two young children on her own. Her perseverance is a testament to the power of hope, courage, and a mother’s commitment to her family.
Ilyssa Velasquez | University of Texas at San Antonio
As a single mother pursuing her Master of Business Administration, Ilyssa Velasquez knows that success requires more than perseverance. It requires the courage to keep moving forward even when facing what seems like a mountain of responsibilities.
Raising her young daughter, Olivia, while earning a perfect 4.0 GPA has required constant sacrifice and discipline. Every assignment completed, every exam passed, and every late night spent studying brings Ilyssa one step closer to building lasting security for her family.
But her motivation extends beyond academics. Ilyssa wants her daughter to grow up watching a mother who refuses to let challenges derail her future. Through hard work, determination, and unwavering commitment to education, she is showing Olivia what is possible when someone believes in herself and refuses to give up.
Jessie Raflores-Dagdagan | Bryant & Stratton College
After nearly two decades of marriage spent supporting a military family, Jessie Raflores-Dagdagan found herself facing a completely new reality. As a newly single mother, she had to rebuild her future from the ground up.
Many people facing such a major life transition would have chosen the safer path. Jessie chose the harder one. She enrolled in nursing school while continuing to work full-time and raise her son.
4Balancing full-time employment, rigorous coursework, and single parenthood requires extraordinary determination. Yet Jessie remains committed to earning her nursing degree and creating greater stability for her family.
Krystal Porter Bradley | Belhaven University
Krystal Porter Bradley’s story is marked by extraordinary heartbreak and perseverance. Born with cancer, she overcame leukemia as a child. Later, she endured the unimaginable loss of three children, survived abuse, navigated two divorces, and faced many moments when others underestimated her potential.
Yet Krystal never stopped moving forward. Today, she is a single mother raising two sons with special needs while working as a pre-K teacher and continuing her education. Despite already earning a doctorate, she discovered she would need yet another degree to pursue her goal of becoming an educational leader. Rather than seeing that requirement as another setback, she saw it as the next step toward her dream.
Krystal’s goal is to establish a Christian early learning academy that serves children and families in her community. Her journey exemplifies relentless faith, determination, and the refusal to let adversity define the future.
Maria Genovezos | Stockton University
At 19 years old, Maria Genovezos became a mother unexpectedly. Not long after, she learned that her daughter had spina bifida. The diagnosis brought major medical challenges, including fetal surgery and years of uncertainty about what the future would hold.
Rather than allowing those obstacles to define her family, Maria embraced them.
Over the past decade, she has navigated motherhood, medical challenges, work responsibilities, and higher education while continuing to pursue her goals. Today, she is raising two daughters, recently completed her associate degree, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Communications with dreams of eventually attending law school.
Nyree Oliver | Rutgers University-Camden
Nyree Oliver’s journey began in foster care. She moved between foster homes, attended multiple high schools, and experienced homelessness at a very young age. The obstacles were significant, but Nyree refused to let her circumstances determine her destination. Today, she is a single mother, full-time employee, first-generation college graduate, and graduate student pursuing an MBA.
Every accomplishment required remarkable perseverance. More importantly, every achievement serves a purpose: showing her daughter that the conditions of your childhood do not define the possibilities of your future.
RoMiyah Morton | American Public University
RoMiyah Morton wears many hats: mother, soldier, student, and provider. As a single mother of two young children, she made the difficult decision to leave the Army Reserves and transition to active-duty military service in pursuit of greater stability for her family. The move required significant sacrifice, but RoMiyah knew her children’s future was worth it.
While serving full time in the U.S. Army, she continues working toward her bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA along the way. Juggling military responsibilities, coursework, and parenting would challenge anyone. Yet RoMiyah remains focused on creating generational change for her children. Her goal is not simply to earn a degree but to demonstrate that determination, discipline, and faith can overcome even the most demanding circumstances.
Unique Collier | Cosumnes River College
Just a few years ago, Unique Collier and her young daughter were living in homeless shelters after escaping a domestic violence situation. Many people would have been overwhelmed by that kind of uncertainty. Instead, Unique transformed hardship into determination.
As a single mother caring for a toddler with limited child care resources, she committed herself to breaking cycles of instability and building a new future. She enrolled in college full-time and successfully completed three consecutive semesters while balancing coursework, parenting, and the daily challenges of rebuilding a life from scratch.
Today, Unique is pursuing a Pre-Allied Health degree with plans to enter a Radiologic Technology program. Every class completed and every obstacle overcome moves her family one step further from survival mode and one step closer to stability.
Verayna Newland | Indiana University
Pursuing a Ph.D. is challenging under any circumstances. For Verayna Newland, the journey became dramatically more difficult when her daughter, Marie, was diagnosed with severe fetal growth restriction during Verayna’s pregnancy and later arrived nearly 10 weeks early.
Born weighing only two pounds, Marie spent 82 days in the NICU. Verayna’s research nearly came to a standstill as she devoted herself to caring for her fragile newborn. Even after leaving the hospital, the challenges continued. Marie required extensive medical care, therapy appointments, and feeding assistance, all while Verayna attempted to stay on track academically.
Despite these obstacles, Verayna never abandoned her goals. She continues pursuing her doctorate in Biology while simultaneously providing extraordinary care for her daughter. Her story demonstrates the profound strength required to balance advanced education with the realities of parenting a medically fragile child.
Standing with Student Parents
These 12 women come from different backgrounds, attend different schools, and are pursuing different dreams. But their stories share something important: parenthood does not have to mean surrendering an education or abandoning a dream.
That is exactly why Standing With You exists. The Pro-Life Generation believes women deserve real, Life-affirming support that empowers them to embrace both their children and their futures. Standing With You connects pregnant and parenting women with practical resources and support rather than leaving them to believe abortion is their only option and that they are alone in their struggles.
To learn more about the Standing With You Scholars Fund and how it supports pregnant and parenting students, visit the Standing With You Scholars Fund.
Bookmark the link now to prepare for Standing With You Scholars Fund for when applications open in May 2027!