James Stephon Debnam was born on May 1st, 1996 with the neurological disorder cerebral palsy. Gloria Debnam was a special educator at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in Manhattan, New York where Stephon became a resident in 1996. It took less than 2 weeks for her to fall in love with the sweet 2 ½ month old baby boy. Within 5 months Gloria became Stephon’s foster mother and the two became a family. On April 7th, 1997 Gloria officially adopted Stephon and the two relocated to Henderson, North Carolina in February 1999 to be amongst family. Stephon lived his childhood right next to his aunt Arlene and first cousins which often involved many weekend sleepovers. As a young boy he loved watching the well known cartoon “Blue’s Clues” and had an extreme fondness for the talented late Whitney Houston. Even as a young adult you would find Stephon's television either playing Whitney Houston or Blue’s Clues if you visited him. As time went on he added the current hit cartoon “Paw Patrol'' to his list of favorites. Trips to Walmart were one of Stephon’s favorite things to do growing up. His aunt Arlene would often come over and ask him if he wanted to go to Walmart and he would burst into laughter. Once at Walmart he loved for his cousins to push him up and down every aisle and would giggle the entire time. Stephon received educational services through Vance County Public Schools in North Carolina and received a certificate of completion in 2015. He has also received medical services over the years from several caring and compassionate nursing agencies and staff. Stephon ascended to a greater life on March 11th, 2022.
Stephon touched the lives of many individuals over the span of his life and was truly loved by his family. He inspired his 3 older cousins Alisa Bell, Ebonie Hicks and Ivorie Hicks to purse careers in special education. Alisa is currently a special educator and educational consultant in Brunswick, MD, Ebonie is a BCBA in Richmond, Virginia and Ivorie is a BCBA in Columbia, Maryland. This $1500 scholarship aims to honor the legacy of Stephon by supporting students pursing a degree in special education residing in New York, North Carolina or the DMV area.
To apply tell us what inspired you to pursue a degree in special education in at least 500 words.
Applications are due by June 30th, 2022. The selected recipient will be announced by July 15th, 2022 and will receive $1,500 payable to their university or college. .
