Announcing the Recipients of the Inaugural Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities!
Congratulations to the 2024 recipients Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities. The Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities funded generously by the April 1 Foundation, provides financial support to Canadian youth with disabilities to pursue post-secondary education and realize their full potential.
Read more about the inaugural recipients below and join us in celebrating their achievements and career goals!
Siyal Baweja
 | Siyal has always loved sport. He was born with Spina Bifida Occulta, which tethered his spinal cord. This was surgically corrected, but scar tissue made the tether recur. After multiple surgeries to correct the tether, he lost mobility at age 15. This has never dampened his love of sport. Since his mobility loss, he worked hard alongside his karate and swim instructors to continue forward in the sports and achieve his Bronze Star lifeguarding certification in swimming. His kinesiologists were his guides in learning to adapt to the world after his mobility changed and creating new goals. Continuing his love for sport, Siyal’s goal is to become a kinesiologist that works with young people learning to adapt to physical disabilities. SIyal will attend Dougals College in Vancouver, BC to undertake a Sports Science Diploma. |
Eunice Beno
 | Eunice has been an advocate for others with hearing loss for much of her life. Eunice has bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and uses cochlear implants. Through her lived experience she has been a role model for younger students who have hearing loss or are Deaf, providing advice regarding assistive technology, advocating their rights and navigating accommodations. This role highlights Eunice’s wish to help others, which translates directly to her career goals. Eunice would like to become a highly skilled and compassionate NICU nurse. Eunice is completing her Bachelor of Nursing at Humber College in Etobicoke, Ontario, after which she plans to pursue advanced certifications in neonatal nursing. |
Paige MacDonald
 | Paige has a love of language. Paige was born with Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy that affects all four of her limbs and her speech. This can pose a challenge to learning a second language, but it did not stop Paige. In sixth grade, she entered the French immersion program at her school. At her grade 12 graduation, Paige graduated with honours. In addition, she was the first student in the history of her high school to take all available French courses and to receive the highest grade for French within the entire school district. This passion for the French language extends to her career goals. Paige is currently a student at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, New Brunswick with a French major. She intends to then transfer to the Universite de Moncton to complete a Bachelor of Education, after which she can become a French immersion teacher. |
Adele Orr
 | Adele Orr was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was weeks old. Since then, she has been diagnosed with 14 other chronic conditions. She has been a lifelong advocate for individuals with disabilities and has been an active volunteer and spokesperson for CF Canada and Trillium Gift of Life Foundation. As an adult, she has realized love for numbers and math. As such, Adele is attending Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario and undertaking a Bachelor of Accounting – something she has always wanted to do. |
Crystal Ward
 | Crystal has been an advocate for mental health for many years, beginning at age 12 when she joined her school’s wellness group. She has since involved herself heavily in the community by joining the Huron Perth Centre for Children and Youth’s New Horizons youth engagement group. She has also co-facilitated trainings to support queer youth, has advocated for BIPOC youth through policy recommendations, and has created safe spaces for marginalized voices. Through this, and her own lived experience with ADHD and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, she wants to continue her work in mental health, with the goal of becoming a mental health policy worker, seeking to transform the mental health system to make it more accessible for youth. Crystal will pursue a Bachelor of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. |
Applications are currently closed and will re-open for the 2025/26 academic year in Fall of 2024. Visit our web page to learn more.
