About the Nonprofit
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Hope Chicago’s mission is to create pathways to success for multiple generations of Chicagoans through equitable access to higher education. By removing the barriers that hold low-income, first generation college students back, we strive to shrink the racial wealth gap, uplifting families and entire communities.
We provide last dollar scholarship support to full high school cohorts–every student–and we do the same for one parent or guardian. It is an unrealistic and unfair proposition to believe a child attending a postsecondary pathway will pull an entire family off the brink, but a parent and their child? That, we have determined, is the magic combination. If we are trying to address multigenerational inequities, we must do so with bold, multigenerational action.
While Hope Chicago’s full school and 2-generation model make it exceptionally powerful and first of its kind, our support infrastructure are the details that make the difference. We have intentionally designed support systems to shepherd students through high school, with the help of integrated Hope Staff (Student Success Coaches) in our partner high schools. This assists with the advising burden at the schools, and allows for a shift in advising philosophy to be integrated–one that focuses on fit and match, not affordability and if it’s worth a lifetime of debt.
Once a Hope Scholar reaches a campus or a vocational pathway, they will continue to have dedicated support, a requirement of our MOUs. They will also be able to access emergency funds if something comes up in their lives that may otherwise have caused them to withdraw, ensuring that they not only enroll in higher education, but actually walk away with a tangible and economically useful indicator of completion.
This combination of scale, access, 2-generations, and holistic, long-term support will help Scholars reach their true potential, free from the financial concerns that limit the possibilities of so many. Just in our first year, we have seen an increase in college enrollment of 30%. In addition to the 30% increase, all students that embarked on a higher education pathway were able to make their decisions based on fit, not finances. By simply allowing folks to make decisions based on their interests, passions, and motivations, instead of by financial fear, we enable them to add their full value to their communities and transform the city of Chicago, one neighborhood at a time.