“I think the benefits of being part of the program are the exposure to helping you professionally advance in your career, but also advance personally,” she said.
For others in the program, it’s more than that as well. Quinter is part of the first cohort of students, about 25 of them, who enrolled the wrap-around services program that was launched last year. Twelve students enrolled this year.
It was launched through a transformative $1 million gift from Julie Fisher Cummings, immediate past chair of the Community Foundation, honoring the legacy of her mother, Marjorie S. Fisher. Through the Marjorie S. Fisher Opportunity Fund, scholarship recipients receive wrap-around supports that go beyond tuition, such as academic and personal success coaching, career-focused webinars, and emergency financial assistance.
The program’s aim is not just to get scholarship recipients to college, but through college successfully, said Elena McDonald, Ed.D., the foundation’s director of scholarships and student success.
“Someone described it the other day, and I love the way they described it, it’s almost like a big hug,” she said. “Like you’re wrapping your arms around the students in every aspect. Not just financially, but really being there as a success coach, someone in their corner to help them along any sort of challenge or obstacle that comes their way.”
That means providing them with any type of assistance that they may need, whether it’s academic, social or financial.
“It’s really a holistic support service,” said McDonald, who is an associate certified coach through the International Coaching Federation.
If students in the program have an unexpected expense that they can’t afford, they can apply to its emergency fund.
For example, McDonald said, students have accessed the fund to pay for replacing lost prescription glasses, to repair a broken computer screen, to help pay for books, and school-branded nursing scrubs and nursing kits, which they couldn’t afford.
The goal is to try to handle emergencies within 24 hours. Beyond the financial help, the program helps students develop soft skills.
“We also do different workshops,” McDonald said. “We just did one on public speaking.”
The workshops have covered topics such as building a LinkedIn profile, creating a resume, college financial aid, and health and wellness.
Through McDonald’s success coaching conversations, she learned of the students’ interest in internship opportunities.
As a result, the Community Foundation reached out to its community partners and board members, inquiring if any of their organizations were looking for interns.
“I was able to place nine of our scholars into internships this past summer,” McDonald said.
Through these efforts, Quinter has connected with professionals in financial services, which is the area she’s interested in.
“Dr. Elena helped me get my first ever suit to go on interviews or to go to internships,” Quinter said.
Students in the program have also gotten together for social events, such as attending a Broadway show at the Kravis Center, a yoga session held at the Community Foundation courtyard, or having meetups of scholars at their respective schools.
Quinter appreciates the professional connections she’s making, as well as the relationships she’s building as a mentor to freshmen in the program and with other scholarship recipients.
Right now, plans call for the program to grow to 60 students. That way, they all can get personalized attention, which includes regular check-ins via phone, text, video call or email, McDonald said.
For Quinter, the wrap-around services make the path through college feel more manageable.
