Charlotte’s fortunes quickly changed when she received a call on her cell phone from Dr. Massood Samii, chair of Southern New Hampshire University’s International Business Department. Samii was checking in on his former student, who in 2003 earned one of the the university’s first doctoral degrees in business administration. He also offered her a job.

“To go from New Orleans to Houston and having your life completely turned upside was difficult to adjust to,” Charlotte says. “ When Dr. Samii called and extended an invitation to teach and come back to SNHU, it felt like coming home again.”

Charlotte was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the SNHU community. E-mails from concerned SNHU colleagues followed her from New Orleans to Texas and back to Manchester, N.H. In many ways, she was not surprised.

“The message I received over and over was, ‘We can’t fix what happened in New Orleans, but we can make a place for you at SNHU,’” Charlotte says. “I hope I can leave a footprint here and see it become an imprint. I could not have a landed in a better place.”