Provident Foundation 2022 Scholars
Daijah Pierce and Jeremy Hall
Hear in their own words how the Provident Foundation is making a difference thanks to your generous donations!
Highlighting 2022 Provident Foundation Scholar Emyly Benitez During Hispanic Heritage Month
September 2023
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Provident Foundation is pleased to shine a spotlight on Emyly Benitez, our exceptional 2022 Provident Scholarship recipient.
Currently in her sophomore year at North Park University, Emyly is on her way toward fulfilling her dream of becoming a nurse. In addition to school, Emyly works as a pharmacy technician at a local Walgreens. This role provides her with invaluable insights into the healthcare system and medicines, setting her on the path to becoming a well-rounded healthcare professional.
What truly sets Emyly apart is her unwavering commitment to serving her community. Growing up, she witnessed firsthand the challenges her family faced when navigating the healthcare system due to language barriers and insurance limitations. Emyly’s journey toward healthcare is not just about personal aspirations; it’s about bridging gaps and providing a voice to those who may feel unheard. As a bilingual Spanish speaker, Emyly knows that she can make a profound difference in helping families access the care and medicines they need.
Beyond her academic pursuits, Emyly remains deeply connected to her roots, actively participating in her church choir and youth group. During the holiday season, her church choir brings joy to nursing homes by singing heartwarming Christmas carols to the elderly residents who may otherwise feel forgotten during this special time of the year. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new restaurants and cozy coffee houses for study sessions.
We are proud to have Emyly as a part of the Provident Foundation family, and we look forward to witnessing the positive impact she will undoubtedly make in the healthcare field and beyond.
Meet Miciah Wilkerson Postbac Fellow, National Institutes of Health
April 2023
Thank you for your continued support of our scholarship program. As part of our quarterly series to keep you informed on the impact of your donation to The Provident Foundation, we checked in with our 2017 Scholar Miciah Wilkerson.
Miciah is currently working as a postbac fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he is focusing on health disparity research. His two-year commitment at the NIH will end in July of this year. One of Miciah’s current research projects is about racial segregation and the effects on the mental health of black adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to his work at NIH, Miciah is also studying for the MCAT exam, which he hopes to take in June. He is considering specializing in either psychiatry or emergency medicine.
Interestingly, Miciah initially wanted to study political science or law because of his desire to help his community. He was drawn to medicine after he met a black physician who told him about HPREP, a program at University of Chicago for high school students interested in a career in medicine. It was there he discovered that he could also use his position as a physician as a platform to be an advocate for change in his community.
Despite his busy schedule, Miciah still finds time to give back to his community by mentoring students at his former college who are interested in pursuing a career in the healthcare field. When he is not working or studying, he enjoys cooking different ethnic foods, exercising by taking long walks, and visiting art and cultural museums.
Miciah is grateful for the financial support and mentorship he has received as a Provident Foundation Scholar. We are proud to support Miciah on his journey and look forward to seeing all that he will accomplish in the future.
Thank you for your continued support of Provident Foundation and our scholarship recipients. Your investment in the scholarship program exemplifies your commitment to helping Black and Latino youth realize their dreams to become future doctors and healthcare professionals. We are deeply grateful for your support.
Article Featured in Community Program
Accelerator Publication
06/07/2022
With help from UChicago’s Community Programs Accelerator, The Provident Foundation is poised to support additional South Side youth of color pursuing medical careers
Inspired by the historic Provident Hospital and Training School, the nonprofit provides scholarships and ongoing mentorship
A 2016 scholarship from The Provident Foundation was a big financial help for Woodlawn resident and aspiring doctor Eric Madu. But the ongoing personal and professional support the nonprofit has been able to offer him has made all the difference. With Provident’s guidance and mentorship, Madu, then a student at Chicago State University, is now three years into medical school at historically Black Meharry Medical College in Nashville and eager to serve underresourced communities like the ones he’s experienced.
“The Provident Foundation has played an important role in my life as a physician, but also as an individual,” Madu says.
The foundation, established in honor of the historic Provident Hospital and Training School for African Americans, has been helping South Side community members of color like Madu since it was founded in 1995. Through its six-year partnership with the University of Chicago’s Community Programs Accelerator, the organization has been able to expand its impact in recent years, promoting education for and providing scholarship opportunities to even more local youth pursuing careers in healthcare. Students like Madu have the potential to help address deeply-rooted disparities in communities of color and the Provident Foundation is poised to soon support even more of them, Associate Dean for Students for UChicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and Provident Board Member James Woodruff says.
“Knowing that there are large numbers of communities that are underserved and knowing that to properly address the needs of those communities we need a healthcare workforce that more closely reflects the diversity of the United States, it makes sense to invest in young people from these same communities who express an interest in pursuing careers in healthcare and who are willing to work hard to make it happen,” says Woodruff, who has mentored Madu for six years through Provident’s Scholars program and is one of several UChicago doctors who serve on Provident’s Board. “When you work in medicine, you meet a lot of people who you’re proud to have met because they display the very best of human nature and Eric is one of those people.”
Provident was first selected to partner with the Community Programs Accelerator in 2016. The organization had just been revived following the death of cofounder James W. Myles and had little funding and only a working board.
“We had reached the limit of what we could accomplish without additional help or something that would trigger a leap in organizational resources and what the Accelerator did was provide that,” Woodruff said.
Accelerator staff and consultants helped the Provident team develop a strategic plan, set up financial systems, refresh their website and social media presence, and advance a fundraising strategy. When Provident moved to the Accelerator’s Core level of support in 2018, they used the $50,000 grant they received to facilitate the hiring of a part-time administrator to strengthen the organization’s infrastructure. This year, the organization will support 20 scholars, graduate from the Accelerator’s Core cohort, and continue building on the momentum the program has provided.
Community-based organizations can fall into a cycle where, in order to succeed, they need to convey a certain level of experience and credibility, Woodruff says, but they can’t get to that level without proven success. The financial resources and expertise the Accelerator partnership afforded helped Provident break through and reach that new level of stability and growth, he says. The organization is now well positioned to scale and make an impact more broadly in the coming years.
“Provident is leading such important work, not only in supporting existing Scholars, but also in modeling new career pathways and healthcare outcomes for young people and their communities across the South Side,” Accelerator Executive Director Sharon Grant said. “We’re honored to have provided tools that helped them reach this level of sustainability.”
For Board President Myetie Hamilton, granddaughter of cofounder Myles, the Accelerator has helped Provident build the network and organizational infrastructure needed to carry on the historic hospital and her family’s legacy. The original Provident Hospital and Training School opened in the Douglas neighborhood in 1891 to address the lack of quality health care available to African Americans. The hospital closed in the ’80s.
“As an African American male growing up at that time, there were very few people in the healthcare industry that looked like my grandfather,” Hamilton says. “So, here you had an entire hospital of African American healthcare providers from physicians to nurses to receptionists to administrators, so I think that was really the impetus [for my grandfather establishing the foundation]—having experienced that and the importance of having trust in the relationship, in someone who identifies with you.”
Addressing those disparities and strengthening that critical trust in communities of color continues to drive The Provident Foundation’s work. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, African American medical students are more than twice as likely as white students to express the intention to work in high-poverty, minority communities. However, only 6% of medical school graduates are African American despite accounting for 12% of the population. By awarding scholarships and providing support such as MCAT prep courses and shadowing experience to students like Madu and encouraging them to return to their communities to work, the foundation aims to transform the next generation of healthcare providers and the care they provide for the better.
Madu plans to someday operate free clinics in Nigeria, where he spent his childhood, but in the meantime, he’s focused on getting through medical school. Regular check-in emails from his mentor, Woodruff, are a big help.
“Because he’s a physician, I’m able to relate to him in terms of ‘okay, this class is difficult,’ he’s been like ‘I know, keep pushing,’” Madu says. “Dr. Woodruff’s been there before, so he’s shared his experience with me as well as encouraged me along the way.”
Eric Madu is a senior at Chicago State University who will be graduating this December. He plans to attend medical school after graduation and is currently studying to take the MCAT exam this month. Eric studies molecular biology and has won several awards and presented his research across the state of Illinois and in the Philippines.
Eric was selected to be a Provident Scholar in the spring of 2016. At that time, he received a financial award in the amount of $3,000 to support his studies, and he received mentorship support, which he has seen most valuable. Since becoming a scholar, Eric has been mentored by Provident Foundation board members Dr. Jim Woodruff, Associate Dean of Students at the University of Chicago and Dr. Abdullah Pratt, medical resident at The University of Chicago. Through these relationships, Eric has had the opportunity to speak with and learn from other medical leaders at the University of Chicago, he has gained financial support to enroll in an MCAT preparation course, and he is gaining hands-on experience and exposure as a volunteer at the Emergency Room of the U of Chicago Medical Center. “These guys are looking out for me at another level to help me to achieve my dreams.”
When asked how he feels about the MCAT, he laughs, and says “It is a lot of work. I’m studying eight hours every day for it. I see it as something that has to be done.” He goes on to say “If Dr. Pratt can do it, I can do it.”
When asked where do you see yourself in ten years, Eric says “I see myself giving back to the community through medicine.” He looks to implement healthcare systems that increase healthcare access to poor individuals.
Meet Jonathan Banks DMD/PhD Student at University of Illinois Chicago
April 2022
Thank you for your continued support of our scholarship program. As part of our quarterly series to keep you informed on the impact of your donation to The Provident Foundation, we checked in with our 2019 Scholar Jonathan Banks.
Jonathan is currently completing his freshman year of graduate studies at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) where he is pursuing a DMD/PhD, a seven-year program with the first three years dedicated to research and the remaining four years to the standard dental program. His research interests include bone fracture healing, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and tissue regeneration. His other interests include promoting access to affordable dental care and tackling health inequities in dentistry.
Jonathan’s passion for dentistry was sparked at an early age. When he was in 6th grade, while watching football on Sunday with his dad, a commercial came on showing children who were born in developing countries with cleft palates. He remembers wishing he could help those children who were just a little younger than he was at the time. Right around that same time, his family switched to a black dentist at the Lawndale Christian Health Center. Jonathan reflects about this dentist, “He was just so inspirational and amazing and energetic. It just gave me so much joy to see the passion he brought to his work and the impact he had on people. That really locked me in, and I knew dentistry was what I wanted to do.”
When talking about health inequities, Jonathan is quick to point out how important diversity is in the health profession. He feels that it is hard to look at the disparities in health outcomes and not conclude that it is unjust and unfair. However, he has been encouraged to see more black and brown students showing an interest in becoming doctors and medical professionals. He believes that good pipeline programs should also focus on ensuring students are adequately prepared for the very difficult path of getting through graduate school, medical school, or dental school.
Reflecting on his time as a Provident Foundation Scholar, Jonathan states, “When I applied to The Provident Foundation, I was looking for more than just a scholarship. I’ve been around the Chicago area my entire life and have been connected to the UIC campus, but what I found at The Provident Foundation was something more. I found an environment that supported me in all aspects of my studies, that recognized the financial needs and the other aspects that go into a pre-medical and pre-dental education. I felt supported and I knew I had developed a network at The Provident Foundation that I could count on when times were tough in my undergraduate years. I am super grateful for The Provident Foundation. Even though I joined a while ago, I am still reaping the benefits. I am happy to give back to the Foundation while I’m still in school and, hopefully, in the future.”
Your investment in the scholarship program exemplifies your commitment to helping Black and Latinx youth realize their dreams to become future doctors and healthcare professionals. We are deeply grateful for your support.