From a Challenging Start, a Fast Finish

 republished with permission from the University of South Alabama

December 5, 2016 by Joy Washington

Drive, determination, goal-setting and a passion for learning opened the doors for Robin Campbell of Mobile to graduate from college in just two years and three months

Campbell, a 20-year-old psychology major at the University of South Alabama, is preparing to graduate with a bachelor’s degree during the 2016 Fall Commencement to be held Saturday, Dec. 10. But, when she looks back over her life, it didn’t start out smoothly.

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A life-changing scholarship: ‘This is the first thing that has ever gone right for me’

republished with permission from al.com

September 22, 2014 by Sally Pearsall Ericson

MOBILE, Alabama – Dustyn Milligan spent most of his growing-up years as a homeless student and was headed for a bleak future after his 2014 graduation from Alma Bryant High School.

His father left the family when Dustyn was only 2 years old, and his mother spent most of his childhood going from one male companion to another, the student said. When he was 12, they camped out in the woods for a time after one of her boyfriends kicked them out. At another point, they lived in a homeless shelter.

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Schools Still See Surges in Homeless Students

Linked to article from Education Week

November 5, 2013 by Sarah D. Sparks

In the year after Hurricane Katrina buffeted the Gulf Coast, Denise Riemer and Larissa Dickinson, both homeless education liaisons for their school district, saw more than 2,000 homeless students and their families in the public schools in Mobile, Ala.

This year, in the wake of an ongoing and far broader economic storm, the two women have seen 5,302 homeless students in the 59,000-student district.

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