YPC Member Jamison Brown, YouthServe Board President Elizabeth Goodrich, YPC Member Shanna Liu, APP ED Kristina Scott, YPC Member Caleb Weaver and YouthServe ED Lauren Banks at the YPC grant presentation on Tuesday, May 8.

One of the unique qualities of our Blueprints College Access Initiative is that it is youth-driven.  Nicole Bohannon started the program while a freshman at the University of Alabama, college students deliver services as “near peer” Blueprints mentors, and our program staff serves as “near peer” mentors for both the mentors and the high school students.

It is also youth-funded.  On Tuesday night, the YouthServe Youth Philanthropy Council made a $14,720 grant to Blueprints.

The Youth Philanthropy Council involves young people, ages 15-18, in the learning and giving aspects of philanthropy.  Thanks to the generous support of the Joseph S. Bruno Foundation, the youth have $20,000 which they can use to financially support local nonprofits.

These young philanthropists wrote their own RFP and reviewed the submitted grants.  They did site visits, and were full of interesting questions.  Then they debated which applicants should receive funding.

The Southern Region State Farm Youth Advisory Board previously awarded a $10,000 grant to Blueprints.

YPC Member Shanna Liu, a senior at Vestavia Hills High School who will attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall, presented the check to us.  She did an incredible job explaining why Blueprints was a good fit for their giving goals.  I asked Shanna to share her remarks, and here they are:

Good evening everyone and thank you for coming to this award ceremony. Tonight, the Youth Philanthropy Council has the privilege of recognizing an extremely deserving organization that not only seeks to improve the Birmingham area but also strives toward bettering humanity.

In 1993, a group of citizens concerned with the level of poverty in Alabama created the Alabama Poverty Project in order to reduce what has descended the state to the third poorest in America. Their mission is to provide leadership in education in order to eliminate poverty. In an effort to accomplish their mission, APP has created the Blueprints College Access Initiative, which is a direct service-learning experience for low-income high school students, giving them the opportunity to receive college access counseling and mentoring from college students. Through Blueprints, students learn about important aspects of the college application process, such as financial aid, career and college options, and interview and resume skills. The Initiative has also assisted students in raising ACT scores by 2 to 3 points, providing results similar to that of nationally recognized preparation programs like Princeton Review and Kaplan. Additionally, students have the opportunity to build relationships with actual colleges, as Blueprints connects high schools with universities and conducts campus tours for the participants. Examples of such significant partnerships include Holt High School with the University of Alabama, Francis Marion High School with Alabama State University, and Woodlawn High School with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

YPC chose to award the grant to the Blueprints program because not only does it significantly meet all three of our grant-giving criteria – education, elimination of poverty, and focus on youth – but it also fulfills the underlying purpose our entire council: philanthropy. Philanthropy is the active action towards achieving a positive goal, and Ms. Kristina Scott and all of Blueprints’ staff has done everything in their ability to bring that goal into fruition. They are not only driven by their desire for change in Alabama, but they are also motivated by the inspiration of the children they are able to affect, the children whose lives are forever impacted by the program. Many students in these low-income communities do not dream of college nor even realize it as an option. However, Blueprints makes certain that the kids understand their potential and realize that college is both affordable and accessible.

By targeting the foundation of our society, Blueprints and Alabama Poverty Project has carved a path for youth toward better education that can only elevate Alabama for future generations. Thus, in honor of their relentless effort in promoting education and reducing poverty, the Youth Philanthropy Council awards a check in the amount of $14,720 to the Alabama Poverty Project’s Blueprints College Access Initiative. 

We are so pleased to join with Alethia House as recipients of the 2012 Youth Philanthropy Council grant funds.  Thank you to these incredible young leaders.

Birmingham, AL- The U.S. Department of Education last week unveiled a new tool to help high schools better track how many students are completing federal financial aid forms.

School and local leaders can now track how many students in each high school across the country are submitting and completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on the new FAFSA Completion Tool website, http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/datacenter/fafsahs.html

Only 9,893 out of 49,510 Alabama high school seniors, or 19.98 percent, completed the FAFSA as of March 13, 2012. Previously, high schools estimated their FAFSA completion rate using self-reported surveys, which are typically unreliable.

Research shows a strong correlation between FAFSA completion and college enrollment.

“FAFSA completion helps students and their families access federal and most state financial support, including grants, scholarships, the lowest-cost student loans and work-study opportunities. The federal deadline for completing the FAFSA is June 30; however, many colleges’ priority deadlines have already passed,” said Kristina Scott, Executive Director of the Alabama Poverty Project.

Alabama’s median household income is $9,508 less than the national average. According to the Southern Education Foundation, 60 percent of that gap is due to Alabamians’ low educational attainment. For every dollar earned by individuals with bachelors degrees, high school dropouts only earn 32 cents and high school graduates only earn 51 cents.

College graduates elevate their personal earning capacity and bring nearly $1 million in spending power back to their local communities. Educational attainment is also a key factor in employers’ site location decisions, which in turn can create a healthier economy statewide.

The FAFSA Completion Tool will be updated every two weeks.

About the Alabama Poverty Project (APP):
Alabama is the nation’s third poorest state. Nearly 19 percent of Alabamians – and more than 27 percent of children – live below the poverty line. The Alabama Poverty Project (APP) is a nonprofit resource center that mobilizes Alabamians to reduce poverty via strategic partnerships with higher education institutions, community partners, policymakers and faith-based organizations. Founded in 1993, APP equips Alabamians to increase college access, fight hunger through learning and service, and one day end systemic poverty in Alabama. For more information, visit http://www.alabamapossible.org

WHAT:           Financial Aid/FAFSA Help Night

WHEN:           Tuesday, February 28, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

WHERE:       Woodlawn United Methodist Church, 139 54th St N, Birmingham, AL 35212

BIRMINGHAM - Woodlawn High School students and their families will get hands-on help completing the  Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on Tuesday, February 28, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Woodlawn United Methodist Church.

“The process of applying for and paying for college can seem complicated.  This FAFSA completion event will help students and their family access federal and most state financial support, including grants, scholarships, the lowest-cost student loans and work-study opportunities.  We want to turn Woodlawn students’ college dreams into reality,” said Kristina Scott, director of the Blueprints College Access Initiative.

The Woodlawn FAFSA Help Night is a free program to connect high school seniors and their families complete the FAFSA with expert advice from volunteer financial aid counselors from Birmingham-area postsecondary institutions, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Samford University, and Virginia College.

The FAFSA Help Night is co-sponsored by the Woodlawn High School Alumni Coalition, the Blueprints College Access Initiative, and Woodlawn United Methodist Church.

About the Blueprints College Access Initiative:

The Blueprints College Access Initiative equips 21st-century high school students to graduate from high school college- and career-ready by building partnerships with area higher education institutions and community organizations.  Blueprints builds a college-going culture by demystifying the college-going process and connects high school students with an information-rich network of support student coaches and adults who can help them navigate the admissions process.

Blueprints is an initiative of the Alabama Poverty Project.  Alabama has the third-highest poverty rate in the country, and educational attainment and income are closely related.  According to the Census Bureau, college graduates’ median income is $46,931, while the median for workers with a high school diploma is just $27,381.

For more information, visit www.blueprintsalabama.org

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Dear Friends,

During 2011, faith and individual donors like you contributed $12,964 to the Alabama Poverty Project. That means we are nearly 75 percent of the way to our 2011 goal of $17,500. Thank you!

We are immensely grateful to partners like you.  You inspire us and constantly remind us that, together, we have the power to end poverty and hunger in Alabama.

We hope that you had a chance to join us at one of our programs this year.  The highlights included:

• The  Blueprints College Access Initiative, which worked with 246 students at seven high schools across Alabama. Blueprints increases college access by supporting families in college and career planning, financial aid literacy, and ACT preparation.  Thank you for helping equip students to pursue their college dreams.

• Celebrating the publication of APP Co-Founder  Wayne Flynt‘s memoir, Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives.  Wayne challenges and inspires us to keep fighting for a more just Alabama. Thank you for helping us keep his flame going.

•  Alabama Possible Community Conversations, which bring together Alabamians to talk about our aspirations for our communities, the barriers we face in achieving those aspirations, and what actions individuals, leaders, and communities can take in turning possibilities into reality. Thank you for helping us listen to the dreams of everyday Alabamians.

• July’s  Tornado Recovery Workshop and September’s  Lifetime of Learning Conference, which brought together students, educators, and community partners to talk about poverty and long-term tornado recovery. Thank you for ensuring that the structural causes of poverty are addressed in rebuilding efforts.

We have just 5 more days to raise $4,536.   Please ensure that we have the resources to continue our work together by making a contribution today.

Thank you,

Kristina Scott

Executive Director

Alabama Poverty Project

In July, more than 90 Alabama, Auburn and AUM students put aside their schools’ rivalries to build two Habitat for Humanity houses in Tuscaloosa’s Holt community. All but a handful of the approximately 100 homes in Holt were destroyed by the April 27 tornadoes.

“We built two houses for some very deserving families, put all rivalry aside with Alabama, and came together as friends,” said Auburn grad student Taylor Gunter, who led the Auburn team.

Volunteers worked on the homes of Reddy and Rosie Rowe, of Rosie’s Café and Catering and Cleaning Service, and Dana Dowling, mother of ten children. They laid the homes’ foundations, painted siding, constructed doors and walls, and put on roofing.

The completed homes also include a FEMA-certified safe room: a plywood structure plated with metal and bolted into the foundation. It is independent of the rest of the home.

Ralph Foster, APP volunteer board member and Auburn’s public service director, told the Tuscaloosa News, “Both universities do wonderful work to improve the quality of life in our state. This is a great example of that.”

House United was a joint effort by the Auburn University Outreach Office of Public Service, the Alabama Association of Habitat for Humanity Affiliates, and The University of Alabama Community Service Center to begin the community’s rebuilding process.

Holt was just the first step in the House United partnership.  Taylor and other students, alumni and friends on the House United team are traveling to Baldwin County in March to build a Habitat home there.

Interested in joining the House United effort? Register for the Baldwin County trip at http://www.auburn.edu/outreach/news/habitat.htm

On August 23, 2011, APP had the immense pleasure of honoring our Co-Founder Wayne Flynt.

A sold-out crowd gathered at Woodlawn’s Woodrow Hall to celebrate the publication of Dr. Flynt’s memoir, Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives.

In his powerful testimony, Dr. Flynt captured the essence of his story.

“I am an historian.  I was shaped by a new way of telling history, telling the story from bottom up instead of top down, trying to convince ordinary people who didn’t even know they had a history that history happens to everyone because everyone has origins, struggles, failures, and victories.

“For me that consisted of public activism and university outreach, or taking Alabama history off the campus and to the people, out of the sanitized classroom and into the cacophonous public square. “

Dr. Flynt is a Professor Emeritus of History at Auburn University and a prolific writer with 12 books to his name, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Poor But Proud: Alabama’s Poor Whites.

Dr. Flynt challenged and inspired the crowd to take the long view of his work – and our work – to make Alabama a better, more just place for us all.  As little as 50 years ago, Dr. Flynt said, that gathering of business leaders, activists, ministers, and just plain folk would never have taken place.

Imagine what can happen during the next 50 years.

Editorial Coverage on APP’s Evening in Honor of Wayne Flynt:

Jim Evans, Montgomery Advertiser, August 23, 2011, Alabama Voices: Flynt has been the state’s conscience

Bob Blalock, Birmingham News, August 28, 2011: Wayne Flynt keeps the faith, and provides it

Here’s where you come in-

We know Wayne Flynt has a huge fan club in Alabama, and we’d like this page to be a place where you can share why Wayne has had such an influence in your life.  Please leave a note in the comments.

Along with their Advisor Dr. Humphrey Lee (top left), Phi Theta Kappa Officers Jerry Smith (top right) and Amy Beaver (bottom left) met with Community College Chancellor Dr. Freida Hill (bottom right) to ask for her support for their tuition reduction proposal.

After the April 27 tornadoes, Calhoun Community College Students Amy Beaver and Jerry Smith wanted to do something to address the long-term needs of tornado victims.

The two, who are both regional officers in the Phi Theta Kappa two-year honor society, met with other Alabama Phi Theta Kappa leaders at Shelton State a few days after the storms.  The Phi Theta Kappa group toured Tuscaloosa and talked about what they were doing at home to meet tornado victims’ short-term needs.

They knew that was not enough.

“We had been doing volunteer services in our neighborhoods, and we decided we wanted to do something that would help in the long-run,” said Amy, a business management major at Calhoun Community College and Phi Theta Kappa Regional Vice President.

They decided to take action by asking that the Alabama Community College System reduce tuition for students who lost their homes and/or jobs.  Educational attainment is closely linked to both economic security and resilience, and tuition costs can be a financial burden as students attempt to rebuild after natural disasters.

With the assistance of their Phi Theta Kappa Advisors, APP Volunteer Board Member and Northwest-Shoals Community College President Humphrey Lee and Athens State Transfer Coordinator Nora Lee, Amy and Jerry met with Community College System Chancellor Freida Hill in June.  At that meeting, they had a chance to talk with Dr. Hill about their experiences and asked for her support.

When we asked if Amy and Jerry were nervous, Amy quickly replied, “Dr. Hill made us feel like we were having a normal every day conversation.”

After securing Dr. Hill’s backing, the next step was to appear in front of the Alabama State Board of Education, which sets tuition for the two-year college system.

At the board’s July meeting, the members unanimously agreed to cut tuition in half for students who lost their homes or jobs due to the storms.

Smith, a pre-engineering major at Calhoun and Alabama Region Phi Theta Kappa president, said that the experience would help him advocate in the future.

He “learned how to take the right path,” Smith said, and credits Dr. and Mrs. Lee with helping them understand the chain of command.

Dr. Lee said, “Students can be very powerful delivering a message, especially when their passion is based on an area of great need.”

In April, APP had a community conversation at Notasulga United Methodist Church.

It is pretty easy these days to think about what divides us – whether it is the Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street, the wealth gap, where you stand on immigration, or the outcome of the Iron Bowl.

That’s exactly why our Alabama Possible campaign has brought people together to talk about our aspirations for our communities, the barriers we face in achieving those aspirations, and what actions individuals, leaders, and communities can take in turning possibilities into reality.

These conversations have been hosted by organizations, schools, and houses of worship around the state and have provided great insight into ways to create economic opportunity. Here’s a smattering of what we have learned so far:

• Workers need jobs that provide a living wage;
• The importance of access to good education, quality healthcare, and adequate transportation;
• The state’s 1901 Constitution and tax structure is perceived as a barrier to achieving economic opportunity;
• The community could provide more resources like job training and mentoring experiences; and
• Ending the notion that “the poor will always be with us” is an important step to ending these barriers.

Childcare, the penal system, diversity, and reliance on public benefits also came up in conversations.

What do you think?  How can Alabama communities and policy makers create and sustain economic opportunity?

The results of our conversations will be matched with data and presented to state policymakers, including the State Commission to Reduce Poverty.

Let your voice be heard by hosting an Alabama Possible community conversation. We will come to your worship group, civic organization, or classroom.

Contact Kristina Scott at 205.939.1408 or kscott@alabamapoverty.org for more information.

Hannah, Kristina and Nicole at the Blueprints table in NCAN’s Best Practices Gallery

Here’s a guest post from Blueprints founder Nicole Bohannon:

Earlier this month, Kristina, Hannah, and I had the opportunity to attend the National College Access Network’s (NCAN) annual conference in St. Louis to share experiences from Blueprints College Access Initiative and learn from other college access providers around the nation.

From breakout sessions sharing best practices for assessment and sustainability to inspiring plenary sessions and networking opportunities, the conference provided for an incredible time of learning and growth that will undoubtedly prove valuable as we work to deepen the relationships with our Blueprints partners and their communities.

During the conference, we also had the privilege of presenting Blueprints at NCAN’s Best Practices Gallery, which focused on best practices in helping diverse student groups access and success in college. We were thrilled to share information about what Blueprints is doing in Alabama with over 600 conference attendees.

One of the most important things we learned was the power of state and local college access networks.  These networks work to get more 21^st century students into and through college, and by leveraging their collective impact they are able to create large-scale social change for student success. Alabama does not currently have a college access network, and that is something we aim to change over the next year.

The NCAN conference was a wonderful learning opportunity, but even more so, a motivator to see the ground we must make up in college attainment in the state of Alabama. Increasing college access is vital to fighting poverty in Alabama, and we couldn’t do it without your help.

Want to learn more about best practices to increase college access?  Some of the conference sessions are posted in the virtual conference section here, and many of the presentation handouts are available here.

Want to get involved with Blueprints? Here’s how:

• Organize college visits with local high school students: email Hannah Selles to get started.
• Become a mentor: connect with Blueprints programs currently underway in Tuscaloosa (at the University of Alabama), Marion (through Judson College), Montevallo (at the University of Montevallo) and Birmingham (with UAB).
• Help cover the costs of materials and staffing with your financial gift.