CONHI Student’s Capstone Project Makes a Huge Impact

Wednesday, Aug 17, 2022

150 backpacks, each one full of the pencils, crayons, notebooks, and folders students in Houston need to start their school year off on the right foot. It was a huge undertaking, led by recent UT Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation graduate Keisha Holland, with supplies being donated to the Women’s Home. 

Holland was finishing up her Accelerated Online (AO) MSN program, which requires a capstone project to occur during the final 10-week course. With this project, students partner with a non-profit to create an initiative that is connected to the mission and goals of the organization. In the case of the AO program, students like Holland are able to complete the project in their local communities, helping to make a direct impact on the health and wellness of the populations closest to them.

Holland reached out to the Women’s Home about a possible partnership, and they let her know that they were in dire need of a school supply drive. She worked with Volunteer & Collaborations Coordinator Jenna Jackson-DeWitte to establish what supplies were needed and organize the drive.

In order to collect all the needed school items and meet her goal of filling 150 backpacks, Holland reached out to friends, neighbors and the community for support. From passing around a flyer in her neighborhood to placing donation boxes at the local church and ice cream shop, Holland spread the word and ended up exceeding her target number. 

Holland, who plans to pursue a career in nursing administration, shares that while it was sometimes a challenge to balance the project with writing final papers and working full-time at Houston Methodist, she is grateful that it is a program requirement. “Completing this capstone project gave me the opportunity to truly make a difference. I’ve never done anything like a donation drive before, so this was a first for me. To see how happy the Women’s Home was to have received all the supplies was awesome.”