The Juan Young Trust funds scholarships that make a Pacific University education attainable for students. But the trust also is an important source of grant funding for community organizations, including one that partners with Pacific.

In 2011-12, Pacific University and its partnership with the Multicultural Integrated Kidney Education (MIKE) program received a $9,000 grant from the Juan Young Trust.

MIKE empowers youth to be health leaders. Pacific University students, along with a number of other adults ranging from college students to grandparents, serve as mentors who meet weekly with small groups of low-income young adults. Through hands-on activities and positive role modeling, the youth learn healthy living skills and tools to reduce the risk of kidney disease.

Half of the grant from the Juan Young Trust supports the operating costs of the MIKE program, while the other half went to the Pacific University School of Professional Psychology to support the program from a research and education perspective. Psychology faculty and students are evaluating the effectiveness of the program and also publicizing its activities through presentations, such as at the Society of Public Health Educators, the Rocky Mountain Psychology Conference, the Western Psychology Conference and the Oregon Public Health Information Conference.

“MIKE is a nonprofit that does good work,” said Susan Li, Pacific psychology professor and supervisor of the MIKE partnership. “We’re trying to get the word out and evaluate their outcomes.”