Sometimes, all it takes is a loving touch of wisdom and effort.

At the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Club on Thursday, eight local women were named recipients of $15,320 in scholarships. The scholarships come from a local chapter of the Philanthropic Education Organization Sisterhood, an organization of women who provide educational assistance to fellow women globally.

“If you are looking for guidance in life and wisdom and good advice,” said scholarship recipient Mary Hanlin, “go find some women that are old enough to be your mother or grandmother that you're not related to.”

PEO International itself has provided $490 million in total financial assistance to over 132,000 women worldwide. The Coeur d’Alene chapter, called Best Friends, has provided 18 scholarships to local women over the past two years.

The funds for the scholarship recipients were garnered through various Best Friends’ efforts, including Christmas and geranium sales. The geranium sales alone usually raise $7,000 annually.

“I can’t explain how much that this is such a benefit,” said scholarship recipient Christen Traversy. “It gives me a lot of financial relief, to focus on my studies and to focus on my daughter.” 

Best Friends member Kathy Anderson said the local chapter partners with North Idaho College’s Career Services department each year to review and select prospective scholarship recipients. 

“They’re not traditional students, typically,” Anderson said.

The women who received scholarships come from all walks of life. They’ve raised children on their own. They’ve gone through divorces. They’ve endured domestic violence issues.

Traversy said she moved to Idaho from Canada to get married. The short-lived marriage turned out turbulent, forcing her to be in and out of divorce court and establish 50/50 custody with her 4-year-old daughter, Lucy. 

“I was kind of stuck here without family, with no support,” Traversy said, later adding, “I’ve learned a lot just through boot camp.” 

But amid this time, Traversy yearned for an education. She would get her Associate of Arts degrees in criminal justice and pre-law from NIC. Now, with the help of the scholarship, Traversy plans to study psychology and English for her bachelor’s.

“My plan is to get into civil divorce law, especially for high-conflict divorces,” she said. "A lot of divorce attorneys don't want to take on high conflict, so it was very hard to find a divorce attorney.”

Hanlin is originally from Lewiston. She came to the Coeur d’Alene area in 2001 when her first marriage ended.

“I ended up single-moming it,” she said. “So, I left college for a while." 

In the meantime, Hanlin worked as a waitress while she started her own cleaning business to help her return to college.

Soon, after catching wind of Best Friends and PEO International’s scholarship opportunities, Hanlin found herself gaining financial help to pursue her higher education further.

“That was huge,” she said. “Because it made me feel like I can overcome my previous hurdles and continue moving forward with my educational goals, my professional goals and my life goals.”

Hanlin, who has earned sociology and philosophy degrees from NIC, as well as a bachelor's in interdisciplinary professional studies through Boise State University online, plans to use scholarship funds to pursue her master's in social work at Boise State.

“My goal is to be a therapist,” she said. “I also want to embed with the judicial system in creating support programs.”