Eve’s Fund for Native American Health Initiatives and Tribal Adaptive Organization, two non-profits that have long partnered to promote health and wellness among young Native Americans, announce a new scholarship award and the names of the inaugural award winners. The Tribal Adaptive Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship Awards recognize a top male and a top female Native American student-athlete with a physical disability.
Tribal Adaptive Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship Awardees
The young people selected for the inaugural 2021 awards will each receive a $1,500.00 scholarship and a custom design award plaque, made possible by financial support from Eve’s Fund. A virtual award ceremony will be streamed live on Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 6 p.m. Central and may be viewed on the Tribal Adaptive Organization’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/disablednativeoutreachprogram/.
The awards recognize the students’ hard work and perseverance in overcoming obstacles to achieve their potential, both as athletes and students, redefining the possibilities for individuals with physical disabilities. They were selected for their success in the classroom and in the competitive arena as well as their future potential. These young people are inspiring examples for others to follow and they will be considered ambassadors for the Missions of Tribal Adaptive Organization and Eve’s Fund in Indian Country and wherever their futures take them.
We hope you will join us online the evening of November 4 to “meet” our two impressive and inspiring honorees and hear their stories, a preview of which follows.
Tribal Adaptive female student-athlete honoree
Alicia Guerrero, 2021 Tribal Adaptive Female Student-Athlete of the Year
The inaugural Tribal Adaptive female student-athlete honoree is Alicia Guerrero, a member of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ and the Yakama nations. She is a 2021 graduate of Wapata High School in Wapata, Washington State, where she was a state track and field champion and a top student. Now a college freshman, Alicia attends the University of Illinois on a wheelchair basketball scholarship. At the age of two, Alicia lost her left leg in a lawn mowing accident. Growing up, she was inspired by the prosthetists who made her artificial legs and she decided she wanted to enter the field, so chose to major in Biology at the University of Illinois.
Tribal Adaptive male student-athlete honoree
Caiden Baxter, 2021 Tribal Adaptive Male Student-Athlete of the Year
Caiden Baxter, a member of the Pokagan band of Potowatomi tribe, is the inaugural male Tribal Adaptive Student-Athlete Scholarship awardee. A native of Niles, Michigan, Caiden suffered a spinal cord injury at age 15, in an ATV crash, leaving him with partial paralysis from the waist down. An honors student before and after his injury, he graduated from Niles High School and the Berrien RESA Mathematics & Science Center (Berrien Springs, MI), which serves the area’s highest potential high school students. With 68 college credit hours already earned, Caiden was accepted to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a HAIL Scholarship (High Achieving Involved Leader). Now a junior at Michigan, Caiden majors in Computer Science and is a member of the school’s wheelchair tennis team.
Meeting the needs of physically and mobility impaired Native American Student-Athletes
Although the number of college adaptive sports programs is increasing overall, one population that is often overlooked are physically and mobility impaired Native American student athletes. We anticipate that these inaugural awardees will inspire other Tribal Adaptive athletes—especially graduating high school seniors —to seek out adaptive sports programs at the college level.
Eve’s Fund will strive to do our part and we are excited about our expanding partnership with Tribal Adaptive Organization. In announcing the inaugural Tribal Adaptive Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship, Eve’s Fund has made a commitment to sponsor these awards on an annual basis, and we hope to increase the number of of yearly scholarship winners over time. We are confident that the generosity of the Friends of Eve’s Fund will make this possible!
Celebrating Eve Erin Crowell’s birth, life and legacy
Forty-seven years ago, on November 4, 1974, Eve Erin Crowell—our beloved daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend, and colleague— was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on a beautiful warm autumn day. Those of you who knew Eve will remember her beauty, her laugh, her talent, energy and spirit. While her life on earth was short, it was full, and her accomplishments were remarkable. To learn more about Eve, we tell her story and share photos through a memorial website. We hope you will visit this beautiful website (by clicking the link below) and, even if you never met Eve, we hope you will leave us a message in the moderated guestbook in celebration of her life.
Eve’s sudden and unexpected passing at the age of thirty was devastating to all her loved her, but her spirit would live on and inspire the founding of Eve’s Fund for Native American Health Initiatives. Especially on Eve’s birthday, when we remember her life and her legacy, it is fitting that we announce the inaugural Tribal Adaptive Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship Awards. Eve was a scholar and also a good student athlete, competing in swim meets, ski races, competitive runs, and as a graduate student, a triathlon. This new scholarship in supportive of adaptive scholar-athletes is precisely the type of program Eve, herself, would champion if she were among us. We also honor Eve’s memory as we will continue to strive to expand our scholarship program funding in support of promising young Native Americans in need.
VISIT EVE ERIN CROWELL’S MEMORIAL WEBSITE
Eve Erin Crowell completed Ralph’s Half Ironman Triathlon (Oceanside, CA-May 2002)
Eve’s light, spirit and values live on through the work of Eve’s Fund for Native American Health Initiatives!
Don’t miss out on our news!
We are grateful to the following media outlets for coverage of this important Eve’s Fund Initiative. Here are links to the articles posted.
