Grant Money Boosts Success at the Finish Line

Publish Date: June 29, 2021

Crafton Hills College, in Yucaipa, has added a new source of support for students who could use a boost: an emergency grant program known as “Finish Line.”

Wadetreas Gray, a 37-year-old single mom of seven, said it is already working for her. “I need to better my life for my children,” she said. “It starts with me having a good career.”

Gray said Crafton Hills College has become a family to her, helping her to study respiratory therapy, a challenge partly inspired by her daughter with severe asthma.

“They were always there pushing me,” Gray said of her Crafton family.“There were times I was so overwhelmed I wanted to quit.But the school has so many programs that helped me.Without Crafton, I feel that I would have given up.”

Crafton Hills College received $128,000 to provide scholarships and emergency assistance this year for nearly 600 students. Like Gray, they were struggling to stay enrolled in classes during the pandemic.

Finish Line grants are available at 34 California community colleges in the state of California. The goal: keep students from giving up.

“This unparalleled level of support for our students will be life-changing,” said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. “We are grateful to the Jay Pritzker Foundation for their generosity and recognition of the California Community Colleges as a vehicle for transformative change.”

Michelle Riggs, who works in the Crafton Hills College Foundation office, said one of the most helpful parts of the grant is that it continues for 20 years. The money is designed to help students overcome obstacles such as homelessness, poverty, experience in the foster care system, re- entry into college because of military service or status as LGBTQ.

“Our goal is to smooth the bumps in the road so that students can finish their degrees and start their careers,” Riggs said. Crafton Hills has a committee who determines how to allocate the funds. This year the money has been used strictly for emergency grants of up to $500 per student. Next year, Riggs said, the College will have another $125,000 to provide $5,000 scholarships for 20 students as well as some emergency grants.

“We require recipients to meet with their counselors before receiving the money,” Riggs said. “That helps keep them on track to complete their programs, transfer to the CSU or UC systems or get into the workforce.” Riggs said the community college system is in the best position to lift barriers and to support students while they find their way. “It is a guided pathway,” she said.

Gray said Crafton Hills College is indeed making her way easier. She has six sons and one daughter, ranging in age from 19 down to her little 6-year-old with asthma. All are doing well in school. The oldest attends Chaffey College, the second oldest has just enrolled at Crafton Hills, like his mom.

“My children, they constantly encourage me not to give up.They always tell me:‘we see you, and how much you take care of us.’ They always say,‘We’re proud of you,’” Gray said.

That is a phrase she cherishes because she didn’t often hear it growing up, bouncing between her birth family and foster care, living in seven different Inland Empire cities during her first 20 years.

She has vowed to raise her own children with stability and consistent schooling, allowing them to try out for sports and get to know their coaches. She said the Redlands Unified School District has helped her to keep all her kids learning via computer during the pandemic by providing laptops and hotspots to access the internet. Her children’s coaches often help with transportation to games. She has some backup from her birth family as well.And Crafton Hills College has become part of her large extended family.

“I always recommend that school to anyone I come across,” she said.

She has one more class to finish before she can get a job as a respiratory therapist, and eventually,she may pursue training as a nurse. I’m excited about all the opportunities I will have to work and still care for others,” she said.

“This is my calling.”