The Cobb Community Foundation announced in a press release that they’ve awarded three scholarships from the Fostering Education Scholarship Fund for the fall 2022 semester.

The purpose of the scholarship is to allow students who are aging out of the foster care system to attend college.

The CCF issued the following press release explaining the program, with a donation link for those who want to give material support to this much-needed program.

Cobb Community Foundation (CCF) has announced that three scholarship recipients have been named by the Fostering Education Scholarship Fund for the fall 2022 semester. This new scholarship was created in 2021, and for the first time, $7,500 in scholarships has now been awarded to these students to offset the financial burden of earning a degree.

Recipients of the scholarships are:

– Collins Arrey, age 18, who will attend Albany State University.

– Tianya Hunter, age19, who will attend the College of Coastal Georgia.

– Thinh Nguyen, age 18, who will attend Georgia State University.

The Fostering Education Scholarship was created to address the financial challenges faced by students aging out of the Georgia foster care system who would like to pursue higher education. The instability of life in foster care often proves to be a distraction from learning and school performance. As one applicant shared in their essay, “We had no control where we will go and where we will live or what foster parents we will get.” Financial resources, mentorship, support, and stability are not commonly available to help these individuals complete degree programs that lead to well-paying, stable employment. This is the reason why caring individuals in our community have joined together to fund these awards. Everlean Rutherford, Isaiah Wilcox of Village Connection and Melissa Conti of Innovative Fitness were brought together through CCF  because of a shared vision to improve the lives of these resilient youths aging out of foster care by helping them reach their educational goals through scholarships.

The Fostering Education Scholarship Fund is seeking like-minded partners who are willing to support Georgia’s aging out of foster care population by making a contribution to the Fostering Education Scholarship Fund. Your tax-deductible donations may be made here.