Schaumburg/Hoffman Rotary Club starts adult scholarship at Harper
A new scholarship program at Harper College in Palatine aims to help adults in Schaumburg Township who are struggling financially or otherwise go back to school to improve their own circumstances and most likely their community as well.
The Rotary Club of Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates' Fishing Well Program is based on the philosophy that it's better to teach people to fish than give them a fish, and it began with an idea and $100,000 contribution from one anonymous member.
Eileen Higginbotham, director of community service for the club, said the Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates Rotarians were already realigning their community-service partnerships to make them about more than just financial donations.
"We didn't want to be a club that just wrote a check and ran," she said.
As such, the new partnership is not just about the monetary scholarships but in pairing recipients - all of whom will be at least 24 years old - with mentors from the club.
"We found vocational training for adults that don't have access to the money is a life-changer," Higginbotham said.
Harper College was chosen to be the partner for the program because of its Harper Promise initiative that reaches out to high school students, and because it already has a strong mentoring program the Rotary Club can plug into, she said.
After matching the initial donor's effort, the club donated all $200,000 to the Harper Educational Foundation to administer the program.
At this point, $25,000 per year will be divided among the successful applicants. Though the program is sustainable in this form for eight years, Rotarians want to grow it to make the annual award larger if the demand is there.
Laura Brown, vice president of the college and chief advancement officer for the foundation, said a sizable number of people are trying to get back on their feet after the financial downturn and other more personal setbacks.
"A lot of people after the recession got jobs, but did they get the right job?" she said.
Continued education is the way to advance in the professional and manufacturing worlds, Brown said.
Most adult students at Harper aren't full time, making it difficult to be specific about how many people's differing part-time tuition the $25,000-a-year program will accommodate. Higginbotham said it most likely will range from eight to 10 students per year unless the annual award is increased in the future.
Many of the local people most in need will already be receiving assistance from local service agencies like WINGS or Kenneth Young Center, and letters of reference from these agencies will be highly prioritized in the applications.
"This program is for people who want it, who need it and who'll respect it," Higginbotham said.
To apply for the grant, go to harpercollege.academicworks.com/.