Start something bigger – Making it easier to speak up

John Palencia set out to change what happens when men feel they should stay silent.

In the communities he grew up in, strength was often measured by how much you could hold in. Conversations about health – especially the kind that required vulnerability – didn’t come easily.

He saw the cost of that silence.

Now, as a registered nurse working in mental health rehabilitation, John is part of something much bigger: a shift toward care that invites people to speak and take part in their own recovery.

Every day, he works alongside people navigating long and complex journeys – supporting them from admission through to rebuilding independence. It’s work that requires trust, persistence and the ability to meet someone where they are, not where systems expect them to be.

His work exists because someone chose to support it.

A moment that changes direction

As a student, John was balancing full-time study with part-time work, navigating the same financial pressures that shape what many students can, and can’t, access beyond the classroom.

Opportunities existed but were out of his reach.

Support from the Student Opportunity Fund changed that.

It enabled John to attend an international conference alongside leading clinicians, researchers and practitioners, as someone who could step into those conversations and begin to see where he might contribute.

“It confirmed the direction I wanted to take,” he says.

That single transformative moment gave him experience and showed him what was possible.

Where that support leads

Today, John is building capability far beyond his initial training, continuing his studies at Master’s level while working on the frontline of care.

But the impact doesn’t stop with him.

It’s seen in every patient who feels safe enough to open up.
In every small shift that leads to better outcomes over time.

This is how change happens in healthcare – through people equipped to influence it from within.