Cierra Vickers (center) is joined by (left to right) grandfather Ken Devos, brother Tristan, and her father and mother, Lance and Kimberly Vickers, during a pinning celebration held at Zeke Bryant Auditorium at the FSCJ North Campus.
In 2025-26, thanks to a donation from VanTrust Foundation, CareerSource Northeast Florida (CareerSource NEFL) established the new Crossing the Finish Line Scholarship to help three local college students with funding to complete their final semesters in college. Scholarship winners had to be enrolled in a recognized medical training program and maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average or higher.
Scholarship winner Cierra Vickers was joined by her family during a pinning ceremony at the North Campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) in early May, where she received an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN). The two-year undergraduate degree prepares students to become registered nurses by focusing on clinical skills, pharmacology, and patient care.
“My initial plan was to go to medical school, but when multiple extenuating circumstances happened, I decided to become a nurse practitioner,” she said. “This scholarship really helped me reach this first goal, because I’m a fully self-supporting student and money can get tight at times.”
Vickers has been working full-time as a patient care associate at UF Health Jacksonville’s cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) going on five years, while attending classes at FSCJ as a full-time student.
“I had to take on student loan debt, and to pay for tuition at FSCJ I had to take out personal loans on top of my accumulated personal and school debt, so this scholarship really helped me get to this point,” she said. “This scholarship really helped me over the last semester, and I appreciate CareerSource Northeast Florida for providing this kind of help to me and other students who need that extra push.”
VanTrust Foundation made a $100,000 donation to CareerSource NEFL to help more people receive training in Northeast Florida, including skill certifications for healthcare jobs. The VanTrust Foundation is the nonprofit arm of VanTrust Real Estate, a full-service real estate development company founded in 2010 with a regional office in Jacksonville. Through its corporate and foundation giving, VanTrust has supported 200 charitable organizations in 71 communities where it operates.