A partnership between St. Petersburg College (SPC) and HCA Florida Healthcare is helping train the area’s future caregivers and combat the state’s nursing shortage, with the help of a $160,000 investment.
HCA Florida Healthcare provided an $80,000 grant in support of the College of Nursing at SPC. It was matched with an $80,000 grant from the Florida Department of Education’s Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) program.
With the funding, St. Petersburg College could award $2,000 scholarships to 25 nursing students, invest $30,000 in new equipment and supplies, and upgrade simulation equipment.
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The Lowe’s Foundation this month presented a $1 million grant to Palm Beach State College (PBSC), which will apply the funds toward a new training space for skilled trades at the Lake Worth campus.
The college’s Construction Trades Center for Workforce Innovation will house training that will simulate construction job-site conditions. PBSC aims to contribute 1,500 new skilled trades graduates to the local workforce by 2025.
The grant to PBSC is one of $8 million in Gable Grants from the Lowe’s Foundation awarded to 11 schools nationwide as part of its larger five-year, $50 million commitment to train 50,000 skilled trades workers.
California
Long Beach City College (LBCC) has received a $4 million Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) from the U.S. Education Department. The grant will fund the college’s new Success and Completion Achievement Network (SCAN) program, which will create a support system to help students who did not enroll in college immediately after high school by helping them to navigate the college system.
“For many of our students, it has been several years, sometimes even decades, since they were last enrolled in school. And while they might be highly motivated and self-directed, they may not have the foundational knowledge to support them as they navigate through a complex college infrastructure,” LBCC Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz said in a recent press conference. “The SCAN program will create a comprehensive network specifically designed to ensure the success of our indirect matriculant students.”
The program will include a summer bridge program, designated financial aid and enrollment liaisons, and a new team of peer navigators comprised of LBCC students.
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Río Hondo College will receive $2.8 million to implement the Hire UP Pilot Program, a five-year pilot program designed by California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to address racial inequity and socioeconomic barriers to workforce participation. The college will use the funds to provide eligible students with stipends to help with college costs and gain access to academic programs and workforce support.
“Through Hire UP, eligible students will receive regular stipend payments for completion interventions,” explained Earic Dixon-Peters, Río Hondo’s vice president of student services. “Students have the opportunity to gain valuable, employable skills while completing their educational goal through completion intervention opportunities, such as career, job and entrepreneurship seminars.”
Kentucky
Hazard Community and Technical College (HCTC) will use a $2.2 million U.S. Education Department grant through the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) grant program to implement a high school-to-postsecondary transition program. It will include dual-credit hubs at each high school and area technology center with college navigators to help students navigate the college landscape.
“Dual-credit students will have ready access to the same services that our on-campus students have in the comfort of their high schools through the development of these hubs,” said HCTC Director of Dual Credit Jama Griffie.
HCTC’s plans also include an online support system designed to provide wraparound support services, incentives, tutoring, and focused intrusive advising and coaching for online students.
Big Sandy and Elizabethtown community and technical colleges also were awarded RPED grant funding, receiving $1.8 million and $1.9 million, respectively.
North Carolina
The Craven Community College (Craven CC) Foundation will use a $2,500 donation from the Young Professionals of Craven County toward the New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Group Scholarship Endowment, bringing the endowment total to $20,000.
This endowment covers tuition assistance for students 18 to 40 years old in any workforce development program at the college’s Volt Center.
Virginia
With a new $250,000 state grant, Danville Community College (DCC) will provide more support to students with children.
The grant from the Virginia Department of Social Services will help parenting students who earn less than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines in obtaining short-term workforce credentials.
As part of the grant, an additional $37,500 sub-grant will go to Patrick and Henry Community College to facilitate similar services. The sub-grant will increase to $75,000 when renewed for an entire year, solidifying a collaborative regional effort to combat poverty.
