A new scholarship fund in memory of Donna Gillette will help current and former Rosecrance clients further their education after treatment.
Donna worked at Rosecrance for more than 20 years as a psychiatric and addiction nurse. She was director of nursing for adolescent services when she retired in 2010. Donna passed away in 2014, but she and her family were proactive in setting up a scholarship fund that would help adolescents and young adults with the cost of continuing education after treatment.
“She was a wonderful woman who really took the time to listen to people no matter what,” said Denita Lynde, Rosecrance’s director of housing. “Donna had a genuinely good heart and was a very motherly, maternal person.
“She definitely had a passion for our younger population. She wanted to see them make those next leaps in life.”
Applications are now being accepted for three annual $1,000 scholarships in Donna’s name. The deadline to apply and postmark an application is May 1.
Qualified applicants must be current or past inpatient clients of a Rosecrance substance abuse treatment facility and/or recovery home, age 26 or younger and planning to further their education by attending a two- or four-year college or university, through a career or through a technical program.
Applications are available at rosecrance.org and can be emailed to dlynde@rosecrance.org or mailed to Denita Lynde, Rosecrance, 1601 University Drive, Rockford, IL, 61107.