A New Form for Employer Tuition Assistance: Partnering with Visiting Nurse

Fort Wayne Visiting Nurse Foundation has partnered with the Questa Education Foundation to provide an option for their employees to receive post-secondary education. The intent of this partnership is to create a sustainable training and education program for employees that offers continued education, improves the services provided and stabilizes the workforce to ensure continuity of quality services to Visiting Nurse clients.

“We are really looking forward to our partnership with Questa,” Visiting Nurse’s CEO, Leslie Friedel states, “Being able to offer the financial means for our team members to reach a higher education is something we are excited offer. Questa’s expertise in this area will be a great benefit to Visiting Nurse.”

Questa’s goals are to provide access to post-secondary education through a low-interest, forgivable loan that may pay for tuition, fees, books and education-related expenses. The partnership is meant to help eliminate a barrier for employees to pursue further education and get the training and skills they need for professional and personal development. Questa will forgive the loan amount based upon employees’ continued employment for two years after completion of classes.

"Our partnership to help Visiting Nurse employees enhance their skills through further education helps to strengthen the healthcare system in Northeast Indiana during this time of critical need,” says Elizabeth Bushnell, Executive Director of Questa. “These types of partnerships are critical to meeting the talent needs in the region.”

If you are interested in a partnership with the Questa Foundation, please contact Elizabeth Bushnell at 260-407-6494 ext. 105, or ebushnell@questafoundation.org. To learn more about Questa’s forgivable loan programs, visit www.questafoundation.org.

About Visiting Nurse: Visiting Nurse has cared for people with serious illnesses and their families in Northeast Indiana since 1888. Our interdisciplinary team of hospice and palliative care experts ensures that every patient is treated with dignity and respect. Visiting Nurse provides compassionate care to alleviate suffering and ensure quality of life for those affected by serious illness. We care for those who go on living as well.  Our grief services are available at no cost for any adult who has experienced the loss of a loved one. Hospice involvement is not required. We proudly serve the following Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Grant, Huntington, Jay, Noble, Wabash, Wells and Whitley. For more information, visit: https://www.vnfw.org/

COVID-19 Virus Response

Through this unknown season of the COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak, the Questa Education Foundation will continue to serve the Northeast Indiana region and our Questa Scholars as best we can. Serving our community in Northeast Indiana by investing in talent is our number one priority, and will continue to be so.

In light of this, Questa is currently open for business. However, the Questa staff will be working remotely and may not be available in person at Questa’s office location. If the office is closed, staff are available during normal business hours of 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Staff may be contacted through Questa’s main phone number at 260-407-6494 or by email at info@questafoundation.org as well as individual email addresses. Scholars can feel safe to make deposits, as staff will be checking the mailbox regularly, and payments will continue to be processed.

If any unforeseeable changes occur, we will notify the public through our website and social media channels. We encourage everyone to follow the state guidelines on staying healthy and safe.

To stay up to date on the virus, visit https://www.in.gov/coronavirus/ for updated statistics released by the Indiana State Department of Health.

Questa's Leadership Search Ends

Questa’s Leadership Search Ends

Elizabeth Bushnell announced as new Executive Director

Questa’s board of directors has announced Elizabeth (Liz) Bushnell as its new Executive Director. Liz will be responsible for Questa’s overall growth and strategic direction of the organization through continued strengthening of relationships within the 11 counties of Northeast Indiana.

The foundation’s search for a director began in November 2019, as Questa’s current executive director Marc Levy announced his retirement.

“We believe Liz will bring great leadership and experience through her knowledge of post-secondary education. She has the vision and passion to carry on the great work of the foundation. She comes highly recommended, and we are fortunate to have her be a part of Questa’s team.”

— Gary Adkins, Questa's Board Chair

Liz has spent the bulk of her career in higher education. At Manchester University since 2004, she has held varying roles including the Director of Career Services, Associate Dean for Planning & Assessment, and an Adjunct Instructor. In her most recent position as Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Bushnell lead strategic planning, assessment, research, grants and accreditation activities for the University. As a resident of Northeast Indiana for over 15 years, Liz has had opportunities to contribute to community development through volunteering at organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters as a College Success Mentor, a member of several committees with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and various leadership roles with Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana.

Her professional and volunteer experiences have displayed her passion for helping young people realize their potential.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Political Science at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, and her Master’s in Public Administration from Bowie State University, Liz moved on to Indiana State University to receive her PhD in Higher Education and Administration.

“Questa plays a pivotal role in talent development and retention in the region. I am very excited about the opportunity to join the Questa team and contribute to their important work helping students gain access to education, graduate with less debt, and meet regional talent needs as professionals in our community.”

— Elizabeth Bushnell, Questa's New Executive Director

Elizabeth will be joining the Questa Foundation team on April 6, 2020. As part of the transition plan, Marc Levy will be available in a support role until his retirement on June 30, 2020.

Questa Receives Another Year of Support from Legacy Funds

Questa is glad to announce the renewal of Legacy funds for $200,000 for one more year to continue serving Fort Wayne residents, help them receive or complete their education, graduate with less debt, and give back to the community through their talent. Questa will match this amount, totaling $400,000.

Since first receiving Legacy Funds in 2013, Questa has been able to serve over 140 Fort Wayne students with internship stipends and forgivable loans.  To date, twenty-four of those scholars have graduated from Questa’s program with 76% of them currently living and working in Allen County. These scholars are working at large and small companies such as Sweetwater Sound, Parkview Health, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Benchmark Human Services, the American Red Cross, the Allen County Library, Ivy Tech, and many others. They are managers, processing specialists, insurance agents, behavior technicians, auditors, and medical assistants to name a few.

“Many of Questa Scholars receiving Questa’s financial support are first generation students, individuals  who are the first in their family to go to college,” commented Marc Levy, executive director of Questa Education Foundation. “Our goal is to help scholars graduate with less debt, and not only find a livable wage job to improve their own lives but to improve the overall economy of the region.”

By investing in people and their education, their ability to find a job and make a living will increase taxpayer dollars, home ownership as well as incentivizing talent to stay and make positive changes in our region. With this support, the Questa will continue to grow and serve several hundred more individuals over the next several years.

Through donations and partnerships, the Questa Foundation can serve even more students in Allen County, but also in the surrounding counties in Northeast Indiana. Go to www.questafoundation.org to learn more about how you can invest in a student and help them receive an education. Your support is an essential part of growth and positive change in our region.

You can read the Journal Gazette article here:

https://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20191218/city-approves-2-for-legacy-funds

John Crawford Gives Boost to Questa

Crawford gives boost to Questa

To grant 2nd Legacy request

DAVE GONG | The Journal Gazette

A little more than a month after Fort Wayne's Legacy Joint Funding Committee denied a request from the Questa Education Foundation, the nonprofit will have another chance this month to secure some future funding. 

City Councilman John Crawford, R-at large, will introduce a bill next week seeking funding for the Questa Legacy Scholars program. Crawford, who will leave the council at the end of December, is a longtime supporter of Questa. In an interview Wednesday, Crawford said he's donated his City Council salary to Questa for 20 years – a total of about $400,000. 

The proposal will be discussed Dec. 17.

“I think it's something that's been really good for the community,” Crawford said. “If you look across the country, every city's destiny is controlled by educational attainment and building a workforce to attract the jobs of the future and that ties into getting more and more people college educated.”

Crawford said Questa's Legacy Scholars program does a good job of not only helping students earn a degree but keeping them in Allen County and northeast Indiana. The Legacy Scholars program, Crawford added, is especially beneficial for the Fort Wayne area.

For the past five years, the Legacy Scholars program was paid for out of the city's Legacy Fund, which is composed of money generated by the lease and sale of Fort Wayne's old power utility. If approved, Crawford's proposal would again use the Legacy Fund to pay for the program.

Not leaving Questa in a lurch for the next academic year is the main goal of Crawford's proposal. Although the Legacy Joint Funding Committee declined to vote on Questa's grant request, the city's rules regarding the Legacy Fund state that the mayor or any City Council member can circumvent the committee and introduce a funding proposal directly to City Council.

Crawford said he's flexible on the funding amount and the time period. It's possible, he said, that the council could agree to fund the program for another year to allow Mayor Tom Henry and the City Council that will be sworn in Jan. 1 to work together to find an alternative funding solution.

“I don't want to leave (Questa) with a gap. The Legacy Committee threw them a curve without even taking a vote,” Crawford said. 

According to the Questa website, the Legacy Scholars program was created “to promote education and employment opportunities for high school seniors and returning college students who are residents of Fort Wayne.” The program distributes $200,000 a year in forgivable student loans to area students. The Legacy Scholars program uses the same low-interest loans as the Questa Scholars and Contemporary Scholars program, the Questa website states. 

To be eligible, students must reside within the Fort Wayne city limits, must be working toward a certificate, associate or bachelor's degree and attend an Indiana not-for-profit college or university. Students must also plan on living in Allen County after college graduation and must plan to work in northeast Indiana. There are also requirements for grade-point average and SAT or ACT scores. 

If students who receive a loan from the Legacy Scholars program live and work in the Fort Wayne area for five years, Questa will forgive 50% of that debt, said Marc Levy, Questa's executive director. If students graduate from one of Questa's regional partner schools, that school will pay 25% of the students' loans.

“One of the most important assets we can invest in right now is people, because that helps them get livable wage jobs, but it also helps create the talent that employers need so that instead of competing for talent and taking talent from each other, the talent pool grows,” Levy said. “Sixty percent of the workforce has no post-secondary education. There is a lot of underdeveloped talent, as well as the kids coming out of high school.”

Money for Legacy Scholars is running out, Levy said, and it's unclear whether the program will have any money for the 2021 school year unless more funding is secured. Regardless, the Legacy Joint Funding Committee at its Nov. 14 meeting declined to recommend Legacy money to support the program for another four years. Questa's proposal failed after no committee member offered a motion to support it. 

Although several committee members expressed support for Questa's mission, they said if the city wants to continue its participation, it should find room in the annual budget rather than the Legacy Fund. A major reason offered was that Questa has a continual need for funding to support the Legacy Scholars program.

Levy said extending the city's participation would sustain the Legacy Scholars program long enough for loan repayments to begin. Those repayments, along with donor support, means the Legacy Scholars program can become self-sustaining, eliminating the need for large requests from the Legacy Fund. 

Crawford's proposal isn't the only Legacy Fund request planned for the Dec. 17 City Council agenda. A $500,000 grant for Science Central, which has been held up since April, is also expected to be discussed. The council is expected to vote Tuesday to remove the item from the table and place it on the agenda for the following week.

The grant to Science Central would fund a portion of a $2.4 million planetarium project at the Clinton Street facility. The exhibit will be used for educational programming to increase public engagement on space exploration. The request was held at the behest of City Councilman Paul Ensley, R-1st, amid concerns about the Electric Works project south of downtown Fort Wayne.

Article Link: https://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20191205/crawfordgives-boostto-questa