In 2021, Taneshia found herself at her lowest point: She was jobless and cycling in and out of homeless shelters with her three children when a spine injury left her temporarily paralyzed and unable to speak.
Where others may have broken, Taneshia says the experience made her fight even harder to build a stable future for her children.
Taneshia, now 35, regained her mobility and ability to speak, found a job and a stable home at National CORE’s Vista de La Sierra affordable housing community. Now, she is one year away from earning her associate’s degree in nursing from Riverside Community College.
“The medical care I received fueled my passion to become a nurse so that I could one day provide the same level of support and encouragement to others facing similar hardships,” Taneshia said.
This May, Taneshia was chosen as one of 33 recipients of the 2025 Building Bright Futures Scholarship Recipient by the Hope through Housing Foundation.
Taneshia said the scholarship will help offset the mounting cost of her nursing school tuition, textbooks and transportation.
“This scholarship will be so helpful because nursing school is expensive. I’ll use it to pay for lab fees, clinicals and uniforms,” Taneshia said. “This is a great opportunity because this money will definitely help in the long run.”
Taneshia has distinguished herself with numerous awards, including the Soroptimist Live Your Dream Award, Fall 2023 Dean’s List and Community Action Leadership Academy certificate of achievement for 200+ hours of community service for a nonprofit organization. She also acts as a mentor to other nursing students in her program and somehow finds time to work in the Riverside City College payroll office.
Taneshia said her main medical interest is in pediatrics, which she gained when her daughter, now 8, was born unresponsive. The ordeal resulted in Taneshia’s daughter spending the first three months of her life at the Loma Linda Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“My personal experiences have given me a deep understanding of the challenges faced by mothers and newborns in critical conditions,” Taneshia said. “I want to be a source of comfort and strength for families going through what I once did.”
Taneshia plans to transfer to a four-year university to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing so she can become a registered nurse. More importantly, she wants to be a beacon of hope for her children, community and future patients.
“Education is not just about earning a degree for me – it is about breaking cycles, overcoming adversity and building a future filled with purpose,” Taneshia said. “I also want to show my children that if I can graduate from college, so can they. I want to be a good role model for my children and to motivate them to be their best.”