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Fall 2004 Newsletter
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Student Dedicated to Helping Orphans
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 For Shannon Reppard work isn’t about a
career—it’s about a lifestyle.
“As a child, I was taught about the
importance of giving and helping
others,” says the recipient of The
Norfolk Foundation’s Hampton Roads
Association of Social Workers
scholarship. She is one of 330 students
receiving Foundation scholarships this
year. During high school and her years
at the University of Virginia, Reppard
volunteered with various nonprofit
organizations. In 2002 her volunteering
took a different turn, when she and her
husband visited a Nicaragua orphanage
with ORPHANetwork, a Virginia
Beach-based nonprofit. The visit changed
Reppard’s life and the future of a
5-yearold boy named Judah Hernandez.
“I remember looking out the window and
seeing a row of little faces,” Reppard,
now 23, says of her first glimpse of the
orphanage. Judah was the first child she
met. “I fell in love with him right
away,” Reppard recalls. As she got to
know Judah, Reppard started searching
for a way to help him have a better
life. Today her parents are in the midst
of adopting Judah, and Reppard can’t
wait to have him for a little brother.
Through her work in Nicaragua, Reppard
realized there were many orphans like
Judah. To help them she decided to
pursue a master’s of social work degree
(MSW) at Virginia Commonwealth
University in Richmond. She applied for
the Foundation’s graduate social work
scholarship and became the 29th social
work graduate student awarded it since
1959. According to the scholarship’s
original trust agreement, it was founded
“to provide capable and dedicated social
workers to fill professional positions
of trust and leadership.” Reppard’s
commitment was just what the Foundation
was looking for when evaluating
candidates.
Dr. Vincent Rosini of ORPHANetwork says
Reppard “has a rare combination of
passion, commitment and intellectual
ability that can make a real difference
in the lives of other people.” Stephen
L. Nock, professor at the University of
Virginia’s Department of Sociology,
echoes that he has “never met a student
with such incredible ambition for such a
worthy endeavor.”
With her scholarship from The Norfolk
Foundation, Reppard will obtain a
master’s degree in social work. She
plans to work in international adoption
or with a nonprofit serving orphaned and
abandoned children. She also hopes to
continue volunteering through
ORPHANetwork at the Nicaragua orphanage.
Reppard says, “I am confident that
having an MSW degree will make a
significant difference in my life.”
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2004 Newsletter Index
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