Julie Miller's Contact Details

Julie Miller's Company Details

Bravo Programs of America

, , • 20 - 49 Employees
Other

Education leads to higher income potential and improved well-being. Yet it is well documented that foster youth are at increased risk of poor educational outcomes. Instead of looking forward to better job prospects and employability, foster youth are more likely than their non-foster peers to become involved with the criminal justice system, have or father a child, or experience homeless – all by age 21. They are much less likely to graduate from college – only 3% do by age 26. It wasn't their misstep or bad decision that put foster kids in this position, yet they are the ones paying the price. Bravo Programs of America (BPA) views post-secondary education as an essential part of a foster youth's path to success, and we aim to support them in reaching their educational goals. Strategies:- Our primary strategy is to awards scholarships and book stipends to eligible students who are enrolled in an accredited post-secondary institution and have good academic standing. - Secondarily, we run a mentor program to help ensure our students get the support they need to stay in school and graduate.Our Capabilities:- We work closely with social workers at universities and community colleges and nonprofits who support foster students for student referrals. - We rely on fundraisers, solicitations, grants, and donations from companies and private individuals to fund our scholarship program. - We solicit volunteers from the community to staff our mentor program.We are fiscally responsible. We are an all-volunteer organization, and direct 97% of all monies raised to our students. And 86% of monies awarded to date have gone to students who have reached their educational goals or are on track to do so. Of course, we would like this number to be 100%, and this is part of the reason we have recently added a mentoring program to our service offerings. Through our mentor program we strive to ensure our students get the support they need to stay in school and graduate.