The story behind the Story of Theresa Sweet
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- Every single person who has a student loan, whether they know it or not, has been impacted by the work of Theresa Sweet. Theresa has spent more than decade advocating for students who have been scammed by a for-profit school.
- Many of you have personally felt Theresa’s impact because she has tirelessly administrated many Facebook groups, Twitter feeds, Reddit pages, and given countless interviews, all in the name of helping you! She even tried to get elected on the “Negotiated Rulemaking Committee” as a student representative to stand up for all future students rights!! As part of what felt like the endless saga of defeats, the board full of for-profit school representatives, couldn’t handle a non-biased member! Check out the video!
- Today, after countless tears and hours of work, the end of this chapter is near. Thousands of borrowers have been approved to have their fraudulent student loans cancelled. We have made history and it is the classic example of vindication for anyone who has felt the feeling of David Vs Goliath.
- Theresa’s story is like many who attended a for-profit school, she was sold the lie when she enrolled at Brooks Institute of Photography 20 years ago. She was promised a career and instead ended up with half a million in student loans and no prospects of the career she was promised.
- Like every story, there’s another side. In December 2020, while working as a nursing assistant during the Covid pandemic, Theresa injured her back so severely she has since not been able to work. Her workers compensation claim has dragged out for years, with no resolution. She has been diagnosed with serious back issues and her career as a nursing assistant and dreams of being a nurse are no longer possible. Theresa spends most days helping students through her advocacy work while managing her chronic pain at home. In between her advocacy, she has been studying Python 3 in hopes to start on a new path that is more conducive to her medical needs.
- Theresa is approaching 50 years old and facing housing instability again, for the third time, in the last few years. She has had little help because she has no family locally and lives with a roommate in Oakland. She has been unable to leave CA, but now she may finally be able to start a new chapter out of state but she doesn’t have the means to make that happen.
- As the creator and admin of a major Borrower Defense FB group, I’ve had the privilege of seeing both sides of Theresa. This is where I need your help! Theresa has given so much to defrauded borrowers and I’m hoping we can find a way to pay her back by raising a little bit to help her get a fresh start!
If you want to learn more about the fraud by Brooks Institute please visit- https://brooksborrowers.org/
If you would like to learn more about Borrower Defense visit the Department Ed student aid website- https://studentaid.gov/borrower-defense/
Organizer and beneficiary
Tarah Gramza
Organizer
Gilbert, AZ
Theresa Sweet
Beneficiary
