The Theresa A. Mike Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit organization that awards individual scholarships to full time, enrolled tribal members of any tribe across the United States, and/or full time non-native students from the Coachella Valley and the Morongo Basin. It was established in honor of Theresa Mike’s legacy and dreams and honors commitment to developing a sense of cultural richness, history and future for the people of her tribe. Since it was created, the Foundation has awarded more than $800,000 to help deserving scholars fund their educational dreams.
Theresa A. Mike was born to Dean and Theresa Mike on January 7, 1974 in Palm Springs California. She was the 4th child of 7 siblings of Dean and Theresa Mike’s household. Theresa was an enrolled member of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians located in Coachella, California, and a descendant from the Lummi Nation in Bellingham, Washington. She was raised in Bellingham, Washington for most of her young life. There she graduated from Bellingham High School in 1992.
On June 13, 1997 she gave birth to her one and only child whom she named after a family member. Theresa unexpectedly passed at the age of 23, leaving behind her 3 month old infant daughter.
Turning their daughter’s tragedy into a positive, the Mike family created the Theresa A. Mike Scholarship Foundation. The scholarship honors Theresa’s presence among us a young woman and mother. It honors her commitment to developing a sense of cultural richness, history and future for the people of her Tribe.
This foundation is helping the lives of those in need in her name. That is comfort for the family who love and miss her every day.
