‘1 in 5’ Season 2 Episode 3: Meet Soren

Soren’s interest in higher education has always been rooted in an interest in the environment, even from childhood. As an adult, after struggling with their own mental health, Soren became interested in psychology, and pursued jobs in the medical field, but was soon discouraged by the for-profit medical system.

Soren went through challenging transitions in their life – a cross country move, the birth of their son, and coming out as a non-binary person. When they moved to Minnesota, Soren regained clarity of what they wanted to pursue, and they went back to school in environmental studies. As a single parent, Soren was hardly making ends meet when someone from their university contacted them about emergency grants, many specifically for queer parents. With the support of the university’s student parent HELP center and a local foundation, Raise the Barr, Soren is launching their academic career with the hope of helping future generations, like their son’s, to live healthier lives.

Raise the Barr’s two-generation (“2Gen”) approach builds family well-being by intentionally and simultaneously working with children and the adults in their lives to access new resources, solve problems, and sharpen existing skills.

Minnesota Student Parent Alliance (MN-SPA) focuses on increasing access to postsecondary educational pathways for student parents through coordinated policies, programs, service alignment, and communication.

The Out to Innovate Scholarships are intended for LGBTQ+ undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) programs.