You may have heard our news last June: IUHPFL was awarded a $24,965 grant through the IU Foundation’s Affinity Giving Program. Our project—Expanding Access to IUHPFL Among Indiana High School Students—was jointly supported by the Black Philanthropy Circle and the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council. The project had three central objectives: (1) expand outreach and recruitment efforts to specific schools and communities not historically reached by IUHPFL, (2) reduce financial barriers to participation in IUHPFL by increasing scholarship assistance, and (3) enhance student and instructor preparation for the program to facilitate student success.
The grant money helped us to make progress on all three objectives. During Fall 2024, we spoke face-to-face with nearly 3,000 students across the state of Indiana and reached additional schools via paper and electronic mailings. We loved adding several schools to our outreach schedule that we had not visited previously (and are so happy to see students from those schools join us in our programs this summer!). We also worked diligently to enhance our instructor and student/parent preparation materials, including handbooks, teacher training modules, and orientation materials, to ensure relevance and utility for a broad audience.
The largest portion of the grant funds were used to support student scholarships. In fact, we were able to nearly double the financial assistance amount available, and we offered several larger scholarships that covered more of the program’s required fees for students with the most financial need.
We are incredibly grateful for the support of the IU Foundation and their Affinity Giving Circles. Their grant helped make the program possible for more students around the state.