Curtis Barnes

“Some of my greatest joys have come through seeing the way service I render affects the lives of others,” Curtis Barnes said. “I would not have been able to participate with service organizations, spend time at home with my two children or maintain full-time internship hours had it not been for the generous scholarship I received. Without the scholarship, I would have had to seek employment to sufficiently support my family.”

What matters most to Curtis Barnes, the reason he sought his education at EWU, is his desire to help people improve their quality of life so that they can live life to the fullest.

He leads by example.

At home, Curtis is a husband and father of two daughters – a toddler and an infant. At EWU, he was a student in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. At work, he interned as a physical therapist at Rockwood Clinic; after graduating in June 2013, he became a physical therapist at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. In our community, he is a Boy Scouts leader and Rebuilding Together Spokane volunteer.

Curtis’ Boy Scouts Varsity Team (ages 14-16) and Venture Crew (16-18) have collaborated with other local charity and service organizations to clean up land and home sites. Women and children who were homeless, victims of abuse, or suffering from other life-impacting stressors now inhabit some of those homes.

Rebuilding Together Spokane provides free upgrades for low-income homeowners. Curtis led a volunteer crew to build a deck on a home in north Spokane and helped replace a fence at a home in central Spokane.