Living Journeys Youth Scholarship | Living Journeys

Congratulations To This Years Recipients of the Living Journeys Youth Scholarship!

Living Journeys was honored to award the very first Living Journeys Youth Scholarships to four incredible graduating seniors in our community. Each of these remarkable young people have been awarded $1,000 to support their college education. We are incredibly proud of all they have achieved and can’t wait to see what they accomplish next!

Blaze Verdecchia attending Montana State University
Aubrey Welfelt attending Duke University
Ashlyn Cowan attending Southern Utah University
Caroline Sudderth attending University of Pittsburgh

Living Journeys Youth Scholarship For Graduating High School Seniors

The Living Journeys Youth Scholarship is a one-time award designed to support graduating high school seniors in the Gunnison Valley who have been impacted by cancer. Students are eligible to apply if they have been diagnosed with cancer, have a parent or guardian who has been diagnosed with cancer, have a sibling who has been diagnosed with cancer, or have experienced the loss of a parent, guardian, or sibling due to cancer.

Scholarship Amount: $1,000-$2,000
Application Deadline: April 1st, 2027
2027 Application will be posted by February 2027

I wanted to extend my sincere thanks to everyone at Living Journey’s. It is hard to express how grateful my husband and I are. I am concentrating on my recovery, rather than how we could manage all the incidental medical and travel expenses.

Living Journeys Client

Your organization has already done so much to walk alongside us through this difficult journey, and we are sincerely thankful for the compassion and support you’ve provided thus far.

Living Journeys Caregiver

I went through treatment for Breast cancer from 2009-2010. Living Journeys fed us, cleaned and winterized our home, arranged community members to drive me to radiation and so much more. Because of this we were able to power through this difficult time. In counting my blessings, I always count Living Journeys. I am so glad you are able to provide these services to anyone in our valley who face such daunting health challenges, so that no one has to face their treatment and recovery feeling isolated and alone.

Janet Welsh Crossley, Living Journeys Client

I’m incredibly grateful for the role Living Journeys has played in my life. When I was diagnosed with cancer I was facing a lot of unknowns with very little local support. Your help brought not only financial relief but also a deep sense of care and community when I needed it most. Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

Kara Gehan, Living Journeys Client, Mother of Two

Living Journeys has been with me every step of the way of my cancer journey. Each time I received a food delivery, I felt the strength of a caring community behind me. That sense of support made all the difference in my recovery. I often tell people—Gunnison is a beautiful place to go through cancer.

Briget Eastep, Living Journeys Client, Cancer Survivor

Having been a part of the Peak Hike and Living Journeys since the beginning, I never imagined I’d one day become a client. But when we needed support the most, Living Journeys was there for US. They helped US through one of the most difficult times in our lives, and we’re so grateful for the love, care, and support they provided.

Glo Cunningham & Scotto Wimmer, Living Journeys Clients

…Then one day, out of the clear blue, we received an anonymous donation for thousands of dollars. It was generosity beyond anything I had ever known; generosity that my family and I desperately needed. For years, I wondered who it was who had shown me such kindness. I silently thanked him or her every day of my treatment, which eventually became my recovery.

Mikaela Berglund, Living Journeys Supporter

I have witnessed a good support group provide a much-needed lifeline, a place to share feelings confidentially, make new friends, and learn from others who have walked a similar path. When people with a common purpose and shared life experience come together they are less likely to feel alone, negative, depressed, anxious and symptoms of loneliness and fatigue melt away, if only for an hour.

Laura Scales, Marriage and Family Therapist

The Living Journeys Youth Group was so helpful for me when my mom was diagnosed and eventually passed away from breast cancer. There isn’t anything quite like knowing you have a group of people that you can turn to who will immediately understand what you’re going through, simply because they’ve been in a similar situation.

Both cancer and death are really stigmatized subjects that most people have a hard time talking about, so one thing I’ve really appreciated has been having a place where talking about death is met with both support and a good dose of morbid humor. Losing a parent young can feel really isolating at times and I’m really grateful for the community Living Journeys has fostered so that no one who has been affected by cancer has to process it alone.

Lily Fessenden, Daughter of Living Journeys Client

When I was informed that I had a very bad cancer, I was shocked. Most folks with adrenal cortical carcinoma stage 3 search for outcomes and learn 20 percent of patients survive 5 years. After surgery and during my chemo treatments, Living Journeys helped arrange food, counseling, and support for my children. It was a dark time for me. Through it all, I attended cancer support meetings with other CB Cancer folks. Some are still here. Many have passed. I will forever be grateful to the good folks that built Living Journeys’ support infrastructure and funded it. Living Journeys gave me hope when I was in need.

Al Smith, Camp4Coffee Owner, No Evidence of Disease for Eight Years

My sigh of relief is audible all the way from across the street on Thursday afternoon as I pull a healthy, homemade meal out of the cooler on our front porch. This meal is there every week. It is constant. It is nourishing. It makes my night doable. It reminds me every single week, that there are community members still supporting our family. It reminds me that five years into this cancer thing, we are still getting support from Living Journeys.

Living Journeys Client, Caregiver, Fulltime Mother of Two

I had no idea the extent of Living Journeys programs and the many ways they support families with cancer in the valley. They started bringing us meals, delivering produce boxes, offering travel reimbursements, quarterly financial grants, covering emotional therapy, the list goes on.

Living Journeys Client, Cancer Survivor

Your organization has a heart and a soul. It has embodied a life force. I feel very fortunate to have experienced this.

Living Journeys Client

When Living Journeys grants us money the support goes much deeper than financial. It shows me that you care about me being here and that I’m a worthy cause.

Living Journeys Client