Shannon Hubbard won the Judy Bonner Presidential Medallion Prize in 2019.
Alabama REACH is a comprehensive support program designed to empower current and former foster youth, orphans, emancipated minors and wards of the state of Alabama to pursue higher education and graduate from college. Shannon Hubbard has been director of REACH since 2015 when she came to UA from the Tuscaloosa County Department of Human Resources. At the time, she saw her mission as finding ways for these students to achieve the kind of lives all college students aspire to, no matter their backgrounds.
Since then, REACH has served more than 55 UA students, and Hubbard has strived to make sure they received every opportunity to achieve their goals.
“She had gone above and beyond to engage these students and make sure they know someone is in their corner and pulling for them,” said Kristy Holt, Title IV-E coordinator and training specialist in UA’s School of Social Work.
Hubbard also has bolstered the students’ academic efforts by finding financial and scholarship support.
“Through interviews with current and former students, I have heard numerous stories of ‘Ms. Shannon’ facilitating scholarship applications for eligible REACH Scholars, locating unexpected financial assistance for students to help with costs of books, securing new REACH scholarship opportunities to ease the financial burden of attendance and connecting students with affordable housing resources,” said Dr. Leah P. Cheatham, assistant professor in UA’s School of Social Work.
Hubbard has a bachelor’s and a master’s degrees in social work from UA.