New Opportunities for Underserved Women of Appalachia

Bluefield College’s most important program may be one of its least known: the New Opportunity School for Women.

The New Opportunity School for Women (NOSW) is a program for underserved women of the Appalachian region. Designed to help these women confront their circumstances, overcome their conditions, and find hope and direction for a new and better life, the program takes women of the community who are making under $10,000 a year and provides them a free three-week residential personal and professional development program on the BC campus.

The New Opportunity School for Women works to improve the women’s lives and help them become more self-sufficient by offering them job search training, college preparation, leadership development, medical care, clothing, and other personal and professional development opportunities free of charge.

Mily Lusk, who was recently named the new director of the New Opportunity School for Women, said she is excited to spread awareness of the program and reach out to women in need to get them the help they need. She said she already has a plan to improve the program, and the first step is to market the program and to show how it can help make each participant a functional and successful member of society.

“The community and the majority of the Bluefield College family do not even know that the program exists, and that’s a huge problem,” Lusk said.

After spreading the word about the program, Lusk said she would like to have at least 30 applications per session. However, the program would need to have a lot of support in order to accomplish this goal. In order to allow it to remain free to participants, she said, a lot of donor support is needed.

Interested applicants who would like more information about the New Opportunity School for Women or those who would like to support the program should visit bluefield.edu/nosw or contact Lusk by phone at at 276-356-5776.