I would like to begin by saying that I believe that hope often is birthed from loss and devastation. My community in flint Michigan was exposed to high levels of lead in our drinking water. I have witnessed every age level, all levels of socio-economic groups, and my environment crushed by the destruction and erosian that this chemical caused to our environment I have witnessed hopelessness and anger as my community realized that leadership and rules forced a decision that would effect everyone in the community for generations. My community lost people to legionnaires disease, compromised immune systems that could not handle the elevated levels of lead, the elderly that succombed and depression. I personally can remember reaching for a glass of water in another state and my hand shaking wondering if it to could be contaminated. There were days over the years I wondered if I had placed poison water into the hands of my children as well as exposed their delicate skin. I found myself on my knees often in those days praying for the sores and strange rashes we had to go away. Turning on the faucet and continuing to see brown water that I boiled and had to bathe in often left me and my family in tears and we wondered if anyone knew and if anyone cared. It was not long before the community galvanized and began to offer each other bottled water and food from other communities that might strengthen the sick. I was surprised by the rappers, actors, artist, singers and communites around the nation who showed up with truck loads of water and supplies. Each week I loaded my family into our vehicle and waited in the water line to obtain the gallons of water we needed to bath, cook and brush our teeth and drink. I thought of the many volunteers who rushed eagerly to fill our cars with diapers, wipes, food and cases of water. I work in Community Mental Health and when the federal government allocated over 300 million dollars to help with therapy and neurological testing related to the exposure I felt even more hope. I was hopeful again for the future and much of the pain and sadness that I felt passed. The provision of funds to our community to help those suffering from the emotional and physical scares lifted the spirits of those who remain in my community. I am hopeful because I live in a country that cares and comes together to love each other. I am hopeful for the children who are witnessing and being blessed because someone cares about their suffering. What happened to the community was awful, but the love expressed and the help provided is a beautiful American tradition.

I truly believe that children need access to Wi-Fi or the internet at home. Although the pandemic has been a difficult and hard on everyone I think the innovations by schools in offering internet access to children and their families has changed the future potential for education. Living in an Urban environment I have been very aware and involved in process and shortcomings of educating those who are less fortunate. I spent a lot of time volunteering in youth programs and coaching them and their parents in Anger Management. I often heard families complaining of the expectations of providing phones, computers and access to the internet. I do believe many companies in the United States have provided computer access to low and moderate income families. However, I don't think that many thought about the fact that those same families had no funds to keep a consistent internet connection in place and substantially available to children. Additionally, many of the families lack the technology training or even the rudimentary requirements to connect to school servers in order to access the many free offerings that come along with paid internet subscriptions. I believe the hard push that came along with the pandemic to get the internet connection and to make The Internet available to families created an opportunity to introduce a step-by-step process of connection for families. The need to connect was no longer an option but a necessity for all children and families. Parents received zoom education and long teaching sections often one-to-many with IT personnel technicians teachers and volunteers. School Systems and even the government were forced to expand the offerings to children relative to technology and funding was made available. The entire world changed in an instant (it seems). I think that we forget that the family unit is not just a Mom and a Dad. The family unit is put together and led by a person who is able to take care of a young person placed in their care and custody. For Instance, grandma or grandpa who might be in their late 70s is now caring for a 5 year old and a 15 year old. The pandemic really fleshed out this diverse group of internet users as well as the challenges associated with being so far apart in learning style and exposure to technology. I am happy to see the very young and the very mature are teaching each other about the benefits and flaws associated with technology. Young people have to be challenged even more as they grasp technology so readily while many older people struggle even to see the numbers and letters while attempting to understand the invisible world of this thing called "Internet" and the connections associated with "Wifi." I see a future of great minds and innovations created in this wonderful yet flawed collaboration and I am excited that the gap will be bridged. The world is forced to create curricula for all ages and accuman and it is wonderful to see.

Pursuing a higher education for me is rooted in my Ancestry. I am the descendant of early American slaves and slave owners. I look at my opportunity to learn as a way to live the dream of my Ancestors. I know the United States has a history steeped in turmoil and difficult intersection of inheritance. However, I see this meshing of life as an enhancement of my spirit and hunger to reach for all that has been established in the way of opportunity by those who grew this country and system of education to where it is today. I walked across the stage to receive my Bachelors degree in the presence of my maternal grandmother and 6 of her sisters who dreamed of the degree that was placed in my hands. I saw that degree grown from a seed in the hearts of those who imagined and yearned to give their children a lasting place in the world and a need to nurture the knowledge shared with them. I watched these women ages 70 to 98 stand and applaud their legacy and it gave me a thirst. I want to share that thirst for knowledge that was given to me by blood, sweat and tears. I want to leave a legacy of caring, consideration and wisdom to the next generation. I would like to have the memory of me be to those who know or hear of me to be that I cared and I helped with my heart and my hands. I want to be the open door that is closed in the face of last resort when a young person sees and hears no belief in them. I want to reach the unreachable and change their perception and help them develop their thirst and heart for learning.

I began working in Mental Health in 1997 at a Community Health Agency. I have always enjoyed being around this population and find that many of these individuals are misunderstood. I was very nervous in spending one on one time with mentally ill persons. In the more than 20 years since I began working with this group I have learned so much. Smiling for those who are nonverbal, deaf and/or blind is extremely important. It was very challenging at the beginning of my career to try to understand how to communicate without knowing sign language or knowing how to ask for or assist those who have no voice or sight. However, I have learned that warmth, the glow of caring and smiling from the inside speaks loudly and can be communication enough. Love is a mighty language and it speaks in caring gestures. I thought that my education was all that I needed to connect to those who may be suffering or who might not be able to even express a Hello. I was very wrong. The smallest act of kindness can change someones life. I have found that fulfilling a need for someone might be holding a squishy toy, touching a fuzzy bear, holding a hand and guiding someone to a safe place to stand or sit. Life is enhanced by tiny moments and interactions that explode in teaching moments for each and every person no matter the circumstance. I am looking forward to changing the face of healthcare by teaching and learning about perception and how perception can change the perspective of people. I believe that what we see and believe about others is not always true and we are better by the tiny joys we gift each other daily.

My name is Lisa Hearn Shumpert. I began my education interested in teaching as I was a poor kid and teachers were super heros and dream makers for me. I grew up in public housing in a home of domestic violence and before the age of 10 I had moved a record number of times and spent a lot of time in shelters and very ashamed of the state of my young life. My mother as well as her partner both suffered with struggles of mental health. My mothers depression and extreme highs often made me feel that I was fending for myself in every way possible. I spent a lot of time in my closet as pure chaos and violence loomed outside my folding closet door. I often sat in the middle of moments so violent I drifted into a world of imagination and made up stories of happiness in my head. At the age of 7 after a very traumatic breakfast that ended with my mother unconcious on the floor I looked down to see that I had a fork sticking out of my arm. I sat there for a moment unable to understand what was happening and I felt no pain until I looked down at the fork. Our Apartment was eerily quiet and I got up and ran out of our back door and pulled the fork out of my arm, only then did my tears and terror come. I heard sirens so I hid and when the house was quiet I climbed back into my window and tied my arm with cloth to stop the bleeding, I got in my closet and went to sleep. I woke to my Mom holding my hand and crying. The partner of my mother did not begin in the relationship as a cruel man. He was everything I wanted in a father, as mine had died when I was 6 from heart failure. He taught me to cook desserts and we played board games and he showered me with wonderful gifts. However, one day he picked up a frying pan as he was cooking and hit my mother over the head with it and turned back to the stove to cook. My mother grabbed her head as blood gushed down the front of her face. Her partner placed strawberry desserts in front of us and took out a board game I liked and we began to play. I was concerned for my Mother, but I wasn't sure what to do as he was smiling as she ran to the bathroom to stop the bleeding. The partner seemed afraid some days as he sat under the kitchen table or in the living room and cried uncontrollably for hours. Time passed for me very slowly during this time as home became a nightmare of screams and tears. Happiness was not a welcomed friend in the house and parties often followed severe beatings of my mother. I spent many days running the half mile to family members homes to try to save my Mothers' life on the days that involved flying glass and broken bones. Finally, after being evicted for the 5th or 6th time because of the fighting we ended up in the local newly built housing project. My Mothers partner spent a lot of time talking to voices and self medicating with the new move, my mother never self medicated. I left every summer to spend the summer on my Grandmothers' farm, a welcome relief and open door to what life would be like if my family could function. When I was 13 my Mothers' partner jumped through our living room window and almost died, after this incident he moved away. I realized at a very young age that I had to sometimes act as parent in my household and was acutely aware of the despair and euphoria of the adults in the house. I wondered about the extreme emotional swings of my Mothers' partner and the constant depression and self hatred of my mother. I immersed myself in my studies, school, friends and sports. I left for college after graduation on a Track Scholarship to an HBCU. I searched and changed my major many times. I was attracted to psychology as I wanted to know what it was that caused people to behave in the way those that had raised me to behave in the way they had. I learned about Bipolar Disoder, self medication and rage exhibited by my Mothers' partner and the lingering depression my Mother still suffers from. I went on to graduate school at Howard University continuing my pursuit of Psychology and searching for the what I thought would be a "cure" for the pain I witnessed for other children. I graduated and began working at a local government Community Mental Health. I was able to connect with many persons who suffered as those who cared for me as a child. I created an Anger Managment group that I still facilitate for the Mentally ill, an alternative to jail time. I also created a program for young high school students who because of violence and mental Health concerns were held back and kicked out numerous times. Today I continue to work in Executive Managment of the Community Mental Health for 25 years now and although I can retire I plan to continue in this field to support and improve my community. In 2014 my community was exposed to lead in our water and so many of the population is now suffering from Mental Health and potential Neurological concerns. I am going back to school to obtain a Doctor of Healthcare Administration to continue to help create and support those who need help and to reach out to the community who often fear seeking help. I thank you for your time and consideration.

I met my Husband when I was 17. We had a lot of things in common and the the thing we had most in common was the love of our grandmothers. My husband could not wait to introduce me to his grandmother. I was maybe 4 feet 11 inches tall back then and his grandmother was even shorter, she came up to my shoulder. You should know that Granny Key was one of the best cooks that I had ever met. Thanksgiving 1988 I was sitting in her living room and she motioned for me to join her in her kitchen. I got up and she asked me if I liked to cook and I said, " I love to cook." Granny Key began to call out each ingredient to provide to her for her famous White Potato Pie. I realized how amazing this moment was and I really didn't want to forget any ingredient so I grabbed a pen and paper and began trying to figure out the measurements. Grannys' sight wasn't what it used to be, but she could feel how much each ingredient was for her recipe. Granny Key and I began to talk about how wonderful it was to share cooking and how cooking brought people together. I said, " but you can't always be nice to some people! and why be nice all the time to some people? Granny Key Smiled with her beautiful brown eyes and hunched her shoulders and said "Be nice becuse it's nice to be nice." Those words latched on to my spirit and although granny is no longer with us, I hear her voice in diffficult situations and facing difficult people. I remember her words apply her philosophy with a smile enthusiatically with a smile.