Women who serve as the primary wage earners for their families and seek financial assistance to continue their education or receive training can now apply for the Soroptimist Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women.

Applications are available at lyda-application.pdf or by contacting Rotalia Borja, Award Chair, at rotaliab@gmail.com. The application deadline is November 15.

The Soroptimist International of Guam club will provide a $1,000 cash award to its award recipient, who will then advance to the Soroptimist Founder Region level, where recipients may receive up to an additional $5,000. The program culminates with three finalist $10,000 awards.

Recipients can use the Live Your Dream Award to offset costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education or additional skills and training. This includes tuition, books, childcare, transportation, or any other education-related expense.

The Live Your Dream Award provides over $2.8 million in cash awards to head-of-household women in need each year. Since the program’s inception in 1972, more than $40 million has helped tens of thousands of women achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.

A study conducted by The Fels Institute of Government, a research and consulting organization based at the University of Pennsylvania, confirmed the impact and effectiveness of this program.

It improves the recipients’ quality of life; builds their confidence; strengthens their self-determination and makes them want to, in turn, help others. Helping women in this way has a demonstrated effect: It leads to stronger families, communities, and nations.