Scholarships help students overcoming drugs, addiction

The Livonia Observer recently ran an article on a local family foundation that is offering academic scholarships to young recovering people with ties to Livonia and supporting the treatment of a young indigent client at Dawn Farm.

Students on the road to recovery can get help paying for college through Brian's Foundation.

Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to applicants from a Livonia school who have completed at least one year of continuous recovery from alcohol or substance abuse or addictions.

The foundation is named for Brian Montes, who died of an accidental heroin/fentanyl overdose in June 2006 at the age of 22. He was a Livonia Public Schools graduate and student at Michigan State University studying to be an English teacher.

His family started the foundation to educate and raise awareness of the dangers of substance abuse.

"We wanted to help someone who was struggling with the same things that Bri went through," said Scott Montes, Brian's older brother and a student at Wayne State University.

The foundation also gave a treatment scholarship to Dawn Farms, a substance abuse treatment facility in Ann Arbor.

Brian Montes was a poet and musician. He would have been a great English teacher, his brother said. The foundation's goal is to help someone turn his or her life around.

Brian's mother, Diane Montes, who founded the Livonia Save Our Youth Task Force in the months after his death, suggested the scholarships help someone struggling with substance abuse, Scott Montes said. "It seems like it was the right thing to do."

Funding came from a golf outing the family held last August.

Application packets are due June 15. In addition to completing one year of recovery, an applicant must:

• Attend or have attended a Livonia high school or be a current resident of Livonia.
• Submit a one- to three-page essay describing his/her recovery journey and academic goals and have it signed by a treatment professional.
• Get a letter of recommendation from a professional who can attest to successful participation.
• Supply proof of acceptance to a two- or four-year college or trade school in Michigan.

To request an application packet by e-mail, contact brisfoundation@yahoo.com.

rrjones@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2054