The Clay Davison Legacy Scholarship Fund, established in August 2019 by the friends and family of Felicia Labatore (Clay’s mother), awards scholarships to Kenosha County residents entering college or already in college who are preparing for a career that addresses mental health challenges – this could include the fields of social services, psychology, and mental health care.
Eligibility
The scholarship is open to Kenosha County residents who are:
- High school seniors and plan to attend a two-year or four-year college or university degree at an accredited Wisconsin institution.
- Students currently enrolled in a Wisconsin-based college/university or accredited technical school.
Students must plan to study or continue their studies in a mental health-related field. Scholarship applicants will need to explain:
- How have you or your family been affected by mental health issues or crises?
- Which specific field do you plan to study and why? (How is it mental health-related?)
NOTE: Students of any Grade Point Average (GPA) can apply for this scholarship.
Selection
The Foundation will begin accepting applications for the Clay Davison Legacy Scholarship in January, with a deadline for applications in mid-March. Recipients will be selected each Spring.
NOTE: The Kenosha Community Foundation will announce when applications for the scholarship are available and the date they are due.
For more information about this and other scholarships managed by the Kenosha Community Foundation, contact scholarships@kenoshafoundation.org.
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About Clay Davison
Listen to the “Always be a Light’ episode on the Avoiding the Addiction Affliction Podcast – it features Felicia Labatore (Clay’s mom) speaking about Clay.
Read this Essay about Clay’s Life
written by Felicia Labatore
Clay was a super talented teenager and grew up here in Kenosha. He played basketball at the Rec Plex and was the pitcher for his Little League team. He helped his 9/10- year old team win the championship. That was a fun night, and I will never forget his excitement and how proud I was of him. He also was the quarterback for his teams through the CYC league and played for Mahone and Indian Trail schools. As he became a teenager, he loved weight-lifting, boxing and playing ghost in the graveyard with his brothers and neighborhood friends.
Besides sports, he was an absolute comedian. He always had his friends and family laughing hysterically. Our dinner time around the table was the “Clay Show.”
In school, Clay was smart and a leader. He got along with every group: white kids, black kids, Hispanic kids, popular kids and everyone in between. If you needed a friend, he was there. Don’t we need more Clay’s in our world today? One of the things I was most proud of him for was that he was the one all his friends went to for advice. He listened to them and helped so many of them providing good, solid advice, yet he was only a teen himself.
Clay was a fierce protector of his family, friends, and teammates. His dream was to be a Marine. I asked him what plan B was, and he said,
“There is no Plan B, I WILL BE A MARINE”!
That’s how determined he was.
Clay’s depression started when he was around 14 years old. He never wanted to go talk to a counselor and never wanted the label of depression. He had the “good” labels: athlete, funny, smart, strong, friend, the “it” kid. Who wants a “bad” or negative label? No one does.
Because of his untreated depression, Clay made some decisions that led him on a path that kept getting darker and darker despite his family trying so many options to help. On June 21 st 2014, Clay took his own life. Clay made thousands of great decisions throughout his life, and I will never let this “one” decision define who he was. My promise to you is that I will do everything in my power to bring awareness to mental health. I want every person, you, me, your son or daughter to be healthy, happy and truly live their life without fear of a label.
One of our goals with the Clay Davison Legacy Foundation is to erase the stigma and labels. I would love nothing more than to know that because of sharing Clay’s story and giving education on this topic that maybe someone you know will be okay with not being okay. And if they need help, they will reach out. The Clay Davison Legacy Scholarship Fund will be available to help Kenosha County students pursuing college in the fields of social services, psychology and mental health care. We need to reduce the lack of providers that help with mental health services.
If you would like to help make this happen, click on donate. Make your donation to the Clay Davison Legacy Scholarship.
You can also reach out to us at fightingfor44@gmail.com.
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