Delgado Community College (DCC) will award 23 African-American women scholarships thanks to a $198,000 grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. Each of the women will receive $2,100 a semester for two years through the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship program. As part of the scholarship criteria, the students must be the first in their family to attend college.
“With these scholarships, the 23 women will have an opportunity to change their lives and the entire community for the better. We are grateful and honored by the receipt of this grant,” DCC Chancellor Joan Davis said in a release.
Michigan
Grand Rapids Community College will use a $50,000 grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to create more health care career opportunities for minorities. West Michigan healthcare employers have struggled to fill positions, and the grant will fund programs that will expand the potential employee pool, said Julie Parks, GRCC’s executive director of workforce training.
The grant will fund a 10-day Health Care Scrubs Camp for Grand Rapids Public Schools students. High school juniors and seniors will learn in GRCC simulation labs, work in a decontamination unit at a local hospital, participate in a culinary medicine workshop at the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education, and take part in a disaster drill. They will also tour area medical facilities, hear from minority leaders in health care fields and work with career coaches/navigators.
GRCC will also conduct community outreach sessions with neighborhood and nonprofit groups to connect unemployed or underemployed adults with information about health care career opportunities.
Minnesota
Four Minnesota colleges will work to create career pathways for underrepresented women after receiving grants from the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. The Pathways to Prosperity grants aim to help women gain economic security and prosperity.
At Saint Paul College, a $29,500 grant will to go toward supporting 60 low-income women of color through the Women in Trade Careers program. Besides taking certified production technologist courses, students will receive scholarships and other financial assistance and mentoring.
Hibbing Community College received a $100,000 grant to help women from the Iron Range region train for jobs in high-wage, high-demand careers. The college’s EMPOWER program provides tuition, childcare and transportation assistance to students, as well as academic and employment bridge support services.
A $100,000 grant to Minnesota State Community & Technical College will aid women of color and low-income women in engineering and technology programs. And Northwest Technical College’s $29,500 grant will support Coding the Path from Poverty to Hope, a program offered in partnership with Leech Lake Tribal College and Red Lake Nation College to help women enter the medical coding field.
New Jersey
Ocean County College’s Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts received a $5,000 grant from OceanFirst Bank of Toms River. The grant will be used for student scholarships for the performance of a children’s opera. As part of the Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy, Eli Villanueva, Los Angeles Opera director, will take residence at the Jersey Shore this summer for a two-week intensive study and performance of Brundibar, by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krista.
South Carolina
York Technical College will create a new scholarship opportunity using a $40,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation. The Duke Energy Utility Line Worker Diversity Scholarship Program will help students – particularly underrepresented students – seeking utility line worker education and training.
