Having Great Expectations for PVCC
Rachel Lemley, staff writer
Over 500 children in Virginia Foster Care age out of the system and face challenges like living on their own without support from any family. The Great Expectations program takes on these problems and attempts to help students find academic success and employment in enjoyable, family-sustaining environments.
The Great Expectations Program was founded in 2009, and over 300 people from PVCC have enrolled. The initiative is not only to provide guidance for former foster care youth, but also to help them with financial aid, admissions, and big career or academic decisions. The main purpose of the program is to give these college students the support they need, through counseling or coaching, to overcome any barriers they may have from their past.
To be eligible for this program, students must have current or past affiliation with the Virginia foster care system, be adopted from the system after their thirteenth birthday, or be a special-needs adoption.
Once accepted, the student will have access to different kinds of financial aid, like the Tuition Grant for Foster Youth or the Scholarships for Foster Kids. The Great Expectations mentor program is also a way to open doorways to success by having a trusted and positive role model help the student each step of the way. There is even advising about financial literacy to teach students how to budget and make important financial decisions.
“As they get into the program and start working the program, a lot of the students anxiety is less because they’ve had more accomplishments. Their sense of belonging is more powerful and they feel like they can do something. Their self-esteem is higher. My ultimate goal is for all of our students to be self-sufficient,” said the lead advisor of the program La’Tisha Jackson, who has worked in social services for over 20 years.
“I don’t look at success as how many people graduate, I look at success in how many people are better off now than when they came into the program. More than anything I want them to find themselves and so, if we look at it from the standpoint of them looking at themselves and finding their next steps, I would say we have an 100 percent success rate,” Jackson concludes.
Through guidance and aid, most of these children who come from rough or unstable backgrounds are given the opportunity to fulfill their dreams and achieve higher education. The advisors also counsel with foster students who are in high school, students in four-year schools, and those who are out of college. Great Expectations hopes to see at least half of the foster youth at PVCC earn a degree and go on to a better future. More information on the program can be accessed at https://www.pvcc.edu/student-services/great-expectations.
