New Partnership with Horatio Alger Association for National College Scholarships Announced

The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. and Give US Your Poor announced in August a strategic partnership to invite homeless and at-risk youth to apply for the Horatio Alger Scholarship Programs.

Now through Octber 30, 2010, homeless and at-risk students are encouraged to visit the Horatio Alger Scholarship application online. There they can determine eligibility and apply for a college scholarship to a two- or four-year accredited college in the U.S. Give US Your Poor will assist with marketing and outreach to its national network of homeless organizations and people across the U.S. to increase awareness of this life-changing scholarship opportunity. For more info click here, then, to apply, click on Scholarship Application on the left-hand side of that page.

In 2011, nearly 1,000 scholarships will be awarded to high school students, in every state, who have overcome great adversities and challenges in their lives by demonstrating excellence in academics and participating in extracurricular activities and community service. Awards range from $2,500 up to $20,000 for eligible high-school students. These scholarships are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

The two organizations originally were connected by tenor Mario Frangoulis who supports both. Horatio Alger awarded Kyla Middleton a national scholarship at the Give US Your Poor Concert for Boston's Homeless in 2007 (see news article), which inspired UMass Boston to create the Beacon's Hand Scholarship, which led to this partnership.

For more information on how to apply and for a detailed press release click here.


New Report on Homeless Hate Crimes from National Coalition for the Homeless

File under sobering/outrageous: In the U.S., from 1999 through 2009, the number of fatal hate crimes under the FBI definition (racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation) was 103. In same period, the number of fatal attacks against homeless people (because they were homeless) was 288. Our partners, The National Coalition for the Homeless, just released a report, "Hate Crimes Against The Homeless: America's Growing Tide of Violence" (August 2010) which received good coverage in The New York Times.

Click here to download report.

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty Annual Awards Night, October 14, 2010

Our partners, The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty's (NLCHP) Annual McKinney-Vento Awards are right around the corner: Thursday, October 14th, at 6:00 pm at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C.  Please consider joining them for this very special evening in their work to help end homelessness and support people that do become homeless through legal efforts. This year event's keynote speaker is HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan.  Honorees include Barbara Ehrenreich, the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania, and the Elzer Family.

Click here to learn more.