WESTFIELD and PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY – September 18, 2024

More Than Bootstraps (MTB), a New Jersey non-profit, is thrilled to announce that Sussex Trinidad, one of our Social Work Interns, has been awarded the LISTA Bilingual Social Work Student Scholarship. The $10,000 award, funded by the Latino Action Network Foundation, will help fund Sussex’s pursuit of her graduate degree in social work at Rutgers University and her completion of the Certificate Program in Latina/o/x Initiatives for Service, Training, and Assessment (LISTA), a program designed to give future social work practitioners the ability to provide culturally informed and responsive services to Latina/o/x populations.

Sussex earned this prestigious honor based on her strong application and plan for working in the behavioral health field with Latina/os after obtaining her certificate from the LISTA Program. As part of her award, Sussex will complete a behavioral health project focused on Latina/os over the course of this academic year. 

Sussex is from El Salvador and immigrated to the US at age 15. She’s a first-generation college graduate (Rutgers ’24) and is now a first-generation student starting her master’s degree.

This is Sussex’s second year working as an intern with MTB. She provides wellness and mental health support for MTB High School Fellows and College Student Leaders as well as conducts family outreach.

“One of my aspirations is to support and help others where possible and give my best. I'm driven by support and encouragement, and I would love to provide that support to others who need that push to keep pushing forward,” said Sussex.

“More Than Bootstraps congratulates Sussex for earning this valuable scholarship,” said Audrey Fisch, president of More Than Bootstraps. “Sussex has made important contributions to MTB, and we are proud of the well-deserved recognition of her hard work and outstanding accomplishments.”

Grants and donations to More Than Bootstraps fund the monthly stipends that allow the high school and college students in the program some time and space to devote to their professional development and college-going activities while still meeting their financial responsibilities. Interested donors are invited to visit the MTB website: www.morethanbootstraps.org/donate.