Project One Scholarship Fund

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“Project One Scholarships These scholarships are awarded annually in the spring to graduating high school seniors who are residents of Mecklenburg County. To publicize our program, we email an announcement with an attached copy of our application form, as well as a link to our website, to the head of high school counseling at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools central office. That individual forwards our information to all CMS high school counselors and encourages them to make all qualified candidates aware of the scholarship opportunity. We also email an announcement with the application form to more than 20 local nonprofits who also serve motivated students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds e.g., Communities in Schools, Right Moves for Youth, GenOne, UrbanPromise, etc.. They too are asked to help identify qualified students and to assist them with the application process if needed. Board members read and rate all completed applications that are received by the deadline and select the top candidates. These students are then interviewed by a panel that is comprised of Board members, volunteers, and key supporters of our mission. The panel judges each student on motivation, impact of the scholarship, desire to succeed, and leadership abilities. We target high-achieving students that are motivated and demonstrate initiative and leadership during their high school years. Examples include involvement in student government, high school sports, and community service. Additionally, we consider students with part-time and summer work experience as indicators of strong motivation?all while maintaining strong academic grades. Project One serves 15 Scholars from this program. The scholarship awards are fully funded and the funds are in reserve for each student. However, we pay the colleges on an annual basis assuming the Scholars remain in good standing with the college and are continuing to meet Project One?s criteria for grades and our support programs.”

“Another program that Project One developed is through a partnership with Queens University ?Queens?. There are outstanding students who attend CPCC each year and transfer to Queens - and also meet the Project One criteria. The goal of the partnership is to identify potential CPCC students who plan to transfer to Queens for the final two years of college. The $15,000 scholarship covers $7,500 for each of the two years at Queens. Queens matches up other financial aid to these students so that they graduate from college with minimal debt. The benefit to Project One is that the Queens scholarships allow us to leverage scholarship dollars paying only the last 2 years and introduce a private college into our program while still meeting our mission. Project One currently serves 0 Scholars in this program.”

“Brookstone Schools / Project One Scholarship Brookstone Schools ?Brookstone? is a private school serving students from Kindergarten through 8th grade. Brookstone seeks to raise up the next generationof leaders from Charlotte?s inner-city neighborhoods by caring for the entire child and inviting families to invest in the lives of their children. Brookstone alumni recently reached a point where they were beginning to graduate high school and a long-time Brookstone supporter was interested in funding a college education for them. As a result, we were approached to provide our expertise and process for Brookstone alumni where we could make the scholar selection as well as service and administer the scholarship. To maintain our mission integrity, we agreed to this arrangement if we could maintain a focus on Project One criteria income level, single-parent family focus, etc. Project One currently serves 2 Scholars in this program. Project One is dedicated to expanding college education in Charlotte by providing college scholarships that are eligible to cover the costs of tuition, room/board, and books. But we are more than a scholarship fund. Students have support throughout the course of their programs and scholarships from a caring adult mentor, who provides encouragement and perspective during the scholars? college years. Mentors are thoroughly screened and participate in ongoing training on mentoring best practices. Scholars are also required to participate in ongoing training and activities, specifically designed to promote college, professional, and life success i.e., financial literacy, goal setting, workplace etiquette, networking, etc.. At the end of four years, our scholars will have a college degree, very little if any college debt, and each will have a strong foundation as they set out to make their own mark in the world. Ultimately, our vision for Project One is to help to break the cycle of poverty ONE mind at a time through the POWER of a college education. All of our programs and services support this vision. We are open to collaborating with other charitable organizations. Importantly, we are only interested in partnerships where we can remain true to our mission.”