We see a lot of big numbers. Hundreds of thousands given to this entity, a million collected for that. But sometimes small -- well, smaller -- numbers catch the eye.
In this case, it was $4,800.
That's the amount of money that Trinity Village is putting toward a scholarship. Specifically, Trinity is going to offer one of the retirement home's certified nursing assistants a chance to go to nursing school to become a licensed practical nurse.
Mac Bellingrath, president of the retirement community, made the announcement on Wednesday in front of a small group of employees.
"We hope this is something that our CNAs are very interested in, and maybe this is just the beginning," Bellingrath said. "We hope that you will be interested in an opportunity to increase your credentialing and take advantage of the economic rewards that come with having an LPN certification. We hope you will be as excited about this, as excited as we are about providing this opportunity."
The arrangement with the scholarship includes studying at Southeast Arkansas College. On Thursday, SEARK president Steven Bloomberg referenced the Trinity Village announcement, saying the school had kicked in its own money to make the scholarship happen because he knows how hard it is to find nursing staff in the community.
The goal is two-pronged. One is to help a CNA get to a level where they are earning a decent wage. The other is to help the retirement home in its effort to retain better trained nursing staff.
The CNA to be chosen has to have already shown they are worth investing in. They have to have worked at Trinity Village for at least a year, and they have to have a good work history. And at the end of it all, the person who does take the money and get their LPN license has to agree to work at Trinity for three years from the time the scholarship is awarded.
Forty-eight hundred dollars isn't a lot in the scheme of things. But it is enough to get one person from one spot in a career up to another. In that sense, it is a life-changing amount of money. That's admirable in and of itself. And, as Bellingrath said, maybe this is just the start. We hope he's right.