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Courier Program
The Courier Program is Accepting 2022 Applications Now
FNU is now accepting applications for the 2022 Courier Program. The deadline to apply is February 18, 2022. Anyone interested in the program can email the Courier Program Coordinator at courier. program@frontier.edu.
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The Courier Program is an eight-week rural and public health service-learning program with a rich and adventuresome history that targets college students with an interest in public health, healthcare, or a related field. The Courier Program offers a unique opportunity for students to gain insight into the challenges and opportunities of providing healthcare in rural and underserved areas. Throughout this eight-week program, Couriers become immersed and engaged through their Courier Clinic Site. These sites will be in rural areas and/or in areas with mental health or primary care shortage areas serving medically underserved areas/ populations. Couriers will also complete an online learning component during their internship, and serve the local community.
Breckinridge Capital Advisors Celebrates 5 Years of Supporting FNU Courier Program
While the restart of the Courier program brings with it some inherent changes due to Frontier’s new location in Versailles, the core purpose and structure of the program remain the same. So too does the support of the Courier program by Breckinridge Capital Advisors.
As part of their own Ambassador Program, Breckinridge Capital Advisors began its support of the Courier program in 2017. The Ambassador Program is a charitable effort that includes five focused relationships, each led by a team of Breckinridge employees. When Breckinridge chose to begin sponsoring the Courier program in 2017, the company sent two employees to FNU’s former campus in Hyden, Kentucky, to get first-hand experience of the Courier program. “One of the objectives of the employee ambassadors is to educate the Breckinridge staff on the mission and goals of their respective organization,” said Breckinridge Capital Advisors Found and President Peter Coffin, who is a descendant of the Breckinridge family. Mr. Coffin is also the current Chair of the Frontier Foundation Board. “Our Frontier ambassadors have done this by inviting Dr. Susan Stone and colleagues to our offices to give updates on the school and current initiatives.”
In non-pandemic times, Courier program alumni and Boston-area FNU graduates have also been invited to come to the Breckinridge offices to share their information and experiences with the staff to create a deeper connection to the program. In 2019, the Breckinridge staff engaged in an outreach effort, asking the alma maters of their employees to spread the word about the Courier Program and to help the recruitment process.
Through these engagement efforts, the connection between Breckinridge and Frontier has grown to include significant financial support. In addition to their financial support of the Courier program, Breckinridge endowed a need-based scholarship to offset tuition costs. To date, the scholarship has aided 12 students. Additionally, in 2020, Breckinridge donated $10,000 to FNU’s student emergency fund, which provides financial assistance to students who are impacted by unforeseen circumstances such as the pandemic, hurricanes, or floods.
“We are so grateful for the amazing support provided by Breckinridge Capital Advisors,” said FNU Courier program director Kayla White. “It is incredible how they have embraced the program, not only supporting it financially but also becoming actively involved in learning about the program and helping it grow.”
Breckinridge Capital Advisor Founder and President Peter Coffin
Former Courier and Entrepreneur Carlyle Carter Maintains Strong Ties to Frontier
The restart of the Frontier Courier Program offers promise to the future couriers and the people whom they will serve. It also offers an ongoing connection to the university and program for past couriers. That is why former courier and current member of the FNU Board of Directors Carlyle Carter is happy to see the continuation of the courier program in Frontier’s new community of Versailles. in the 1980s and 1990s. She also became a trustee and served on the Courier Advisory Council.
Carter’s professional career took her to Needham, Massachusetts, where she cofounded and co-owned Global Child from 1992-2002. The company, which was sold in 2002, offered world language instruction for children ages 5-11, including teacher training, teacher curricula, and languagelearning materials for students. Carter continued to work in education, including writing and editorial roles with educational publishers, including Follett, Rand-McNally, Heinle & Heinle, and McGraw-Hill. She also taught French in the Watertown Public Schools in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Carter’s history with Frontier and her remarkable career accomplishments made her an ideal candidate for the FNU Board of Directors, which she joined in July 2018. In 2019, Carter was presented with the Courier Program Unbridled Spirit Award, which is given annually to a former courier who has perpetuated the mission and spirit of Frontier in their own lives. The criteria for this award include a dedication to serving others; ongoing, longstanding stewardship of Frontier; and demonstration of personal conviction, courage, and a zest for adventure.
Because, as the award criteria state, the mission and spirit of Frontier extend beyond the campus, Carter is eager to see the courier program continue to flourish in Versailles and the surrounding communities and inspire young people to serve others throughout the world.
“As the co-owner with my brothers of one of the oldest houses in Versailles, Kentucky, we have painstakingly restored and modernized it over the years,” she said. “As a resident of Evanston, Illinois, the first city in the United State to have a reparations restorative housing program, and a member of Lake Street Church of Evanston founded before the Civil War, I am committed to racial justice. I believe in preserving the best of the past while improving the present and the future.”
The Frontier Courier Program represents the best of Frontier’s past, and in its new location, its mission and spirit will continue to evolve to meet the changing times and needs.
“My affiliation with Frontier dates back to 1954 when I was eleven years old, and Mary Breckinridge, my grandmother’s first cousin, invited me to visit her in Wendover,” Carter said. “This was a life-changing experience. I had heard stories about the Frontier Nursing Service from my father, Joe Carter, who had been one of the first, and more rambunctious, couriers. I was excited to get to know Mary Breckinridge, the nurses, the staff, the couriers, the mountain people, and the horses. In those days, nurses were still doing home visits on horseback.”
Carter went on to serve as a courier in 1962 and in 1965. She maintained her relationship with Frontier, serving as an active member of the Boston Committee
About The Frontier Courier Program
The Courier Program is an eightweek rural and public health servicelearning program with a rich and adventuresome history that targets college students with an interest in public health, healthcare, or a related field. The Courier Program offers a unique opportunity for students to gain insight into the challenges and opportunities of providing healthcare in rural and underserved areas. Throughout this eight-week program, Couriers become immersed and engaged through their Courier Clinic Site. These sites will be in rural areas and/or in areas with mental health or primary care shortage areas serving medically underserved areas/populations. Couriers will also complete an online learning component during their internship, and serve the local community.
During their time on-site, Couriers will shadow a variety of clinicians and provide leadership on special projects, as well as other avenues of community participation. Courier’s experiences help them to fully comprehend the complexities of rural and underserved communities and healthcare, as well as grasp the compassionate and caring legacy established by our founder, Mary Breckinridge, which is carried on by FNU students, alumni, Couriers, and faculty.
