In November of 2023, we lost an exceptional human, friend, advocate and member of our Recovery Community. Shauntelle was a remarkable human being.  She was kind and gentle while also being fierce and persistent.  She fought everyday to make the world a better place and was an incredible champion for recovery, for trans lives, for LGBTQIA folks.  Shauntelle was a good friend to many of us. She loved her many friends, good meals, traveling, children, and dogs.  She was outspoken and unafraid and she gave voice to many people's experiences that were so often silenced.  Shauntelle frequently challenged those around her and preferred truth telling to tip-toeing around any issue.  She was all of this and so much more.  We miss her deep care for those around her, her sense of humor, her smile and her sass.

In partnership with VCU Rams in Recovery, Rutgers University, and the Association of Recovery in Higher Education, Students Recover is grateful to launch the Shauntelle Hammonds’ Soul Circle Scholarship fund, which will provide scholarship funding for participants in the Soul Circle Program, a weekly support space for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) who are students in Collegiate Recovery Programs.  The group was an important part of Shauntelle’s recovery and she was both a facilitator and a participant in the group.  This group will continue the work that has been done to promote equity and justice in Collegiate Recovery and will help strengthen a national network of students in these groups.  This is a weekly 75 minute, virtual group with an attached scholarship.  Participants who meet the minimum attendance requirements will receive a scholarship award at the end of each semester.

Our fund development goal for this program is $15,000 for 2024 which would fund scholarships 50 participants over the course of the year.