{"id":33360,"date":"2016-05-09T08:08:08","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T13:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=33360"},"modified":"2023-05-10T15:44:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T20:44:12","slug":"life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

With graduation just weeks away, Saidah Sheppard is wrapping up her second year of field placement at an elementary school, practicing her elevator speech and revising her resume for a UWM School of Education career fair.<\/p>\n

In December, she plans to squeeze every penny she possibly can from her first paychecks as a full-time teacher and take her sons to Disney World.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey deserve something good that\u2019s just for them, even if it\u2019s only for two or three days,\u201d Sheppard says. \u201cMy boys have been through a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 24, so has Sheppard. Since fall of 2012, she\u2019s had a baby, gotten divorced and nearly left college twice. She credits her ability to make it through to the support she\u2019s received from her immediate family and her UWM family, the Life Impact program for student parents. Since 2005, Life Impact has worked to break the cycle of poverty by supporting nearly 200 students who could most benefit from a college degree, but are least likely to graduate: low-income students raising young children. Life Impact has beaten the odds with a retention and graduation rate of 86 percent and an employment rate of 96 percent for new graduates.<\/p>\n

Applications<\/a> are being accepted through Friday, May 13, for fall 2016 students. Already enrolled UWM students and incoming first-year students are encouraged to apply.<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s small advising staff provides academic and emotional support, family workshops and career-planning services to Life Impact scholars. The personal attention changes lives, but the program\u2019s financial support is key: Scholars receive $5,000 in tuition assistance and access to emergency funds that can help pay the rent, buy textbooks or even cover brake repair.<\/p>\n

Sheppard enrolled at UWM in fall 2012 as a young mother with an associate\u2019s degree in education from Milwaukee Area Technical College.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to be a teacher,\u201d she says. \u201cI was a tutor in middle school, and I helped a little boy who was struggling in reading get back on the right reading level. I feel I\u2019ve always had a knack for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her UWM studies went well, but family life proved challenging for\u00a0Sheppard\u00a0and her husband. Married \u201csuper young\u201d in 2008,\u00a0Sheppard\u00a0needed help to continue her studies after she and her husband divorced. She overheard a classmate talking about Life Impact and applied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a good writer. I took my time with the admission essay. To tell you the truth, I just had a feeling: \u2018This is it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Life Impact allowed\u00a0Sheppard\u00a0to stay in college after the divorce. Her mother, a retired Milwaukee Public Schools teacher, watches the boys while\u00a0Sheppard\u00a0works and goes to class.<\/p>\n

Still, there have been unexpected challenges. Junior year,\u00a0Sheppard\u00a0almost had to choose between repairing the brakes on her car and paying her rent.<\/p>\n

Enter one Life Impact\u2019s major innovations \u2013 access to emergency funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt weird asking for money so I could pay rent and fix my brakes,\u201d\u00a0Sheppard\u00a0says. \u201cBut the advisors were so welcoming when I did. Life Impact is really like a mini-family. Natalie Reinbold, the program manager, just met with me, and we went over my budget. They treated me like a regular person.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ability to meet many needs in one place is part of what makes Life Impact unique, said Lindsey Reichlin, a research associate at the Institute for Women\u2019s Policy Research. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen a program quite like this in terms of combining the life coach aspect with services such as emergency funds. It\u2019s pretty well-rounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheppard loves parent-teacher conferences and is passionate about early literacy. She hopes to teach in the Milwaukee Public Schools, the system that educated her and now her sons. She also wants other young parents to apply to the program that helped her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to be a teacher without Life Impact,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a light at the end of the tunnel, telling you that you can finish college \u2013 or give you the support you need to start college if you didn\u2019t think you could do it. You can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":33388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[250],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[114],"related-coverage":[207],"uwmnews-feed":[347,148],"class_list":["post-33360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-student-success","section-campus-community","section-students","display_categories-top-story-primary","related-coverage-teaching","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-education"],"yoast_head":"\nLife Impact program gives ed major a lifeline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UWM REPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-09T13:08:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-10T20:44:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/05\/Sheppard_d.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-09T13:08:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-10T20:44:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":686,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/Sheppard_d.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Student Success\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/\",\"name\":\"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/Sheppard_d.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-09T13:08:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-10T20:44:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/Sheppard_d.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/Sheppard_d.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Saidah Sheppard reads with some of her favorite people: her second-grade students at Kluge Elementary. Sheppard plans to teach full-time after graduating from UWM in May. (UWM Photo\\\/Elora Hennessey)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"UWM REPORT\",\"description\":\"News from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":224,\"caption\":\"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/UWMNews\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline","description":"Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline","og_description":"Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/","og_site_name":"UWM REPORT","article_published_time":"2016-05-09T13:08:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-10T20:44:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/05\/Sheppard_d.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UWMNews","twitter_site":"@UWMNews","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline","datePublished":"2016-05-09T13:08:08+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-10T20:44:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/"},"wordCount":686,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/05\/Sheppard_d.jpg","keywords":["Student Success"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/","name":"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/05\/Sheppard_d.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-09T13:08:08+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-10T20:44:12+00:00","description":"Whether she needed career coaching or a loan for car repairs, Saidah Sheppard could always count on UWM\u2019s program for low-income students raising young children.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/05\/Sheppard_d.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/05\/Sheppard_d.jpg","width":750,"height":500,"caption":"Saidah Sheppard reads with some of her favorite people: her second-grade students at Kluge Elementary. Sheppard plans to teach full-time after graduating from UWM in May. (UWM Photo\/Elora Hennessey)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/life-impact-program-gives-ed-major-a-lifeline\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Life Impact program gives ed major a lifeline"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/","name":"UWM REPORT","description":"News from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","width":225,"height":224,"caption":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/UWMNews"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/author\/"}]}},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 23:09:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33360"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33644,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33360\/revisions\/33644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33360"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=33360"},{"taxonomy":"display_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_categories?post=33360"},{"taxonomy":"related-coverage","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/related-coverage?post=33360"},{"taxonomy":"uwmnews-feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uwmnews-feed?post=33360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}