A Greeley-based program that helps steer low-income kids toward higher education is getting a financial boost from the U.S. Department of Education.
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet announced Friday that the nonprofit Greeley Dream Team will receive a $306,752 grant for the Educational Talent Search Program. The program works with Greeley-Evans District 6 to help identify youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in higher education.
“All of our students that are graduating and going off to college – they’re changing the trajectory of their family,” says the Greeley Dream Team’s Executive Director Elizabeth Barber. “They’re the first ones to go, for most of them. And they’ll be able to bring back a different level of income and education to their family, and enhance our community.”
Barber says many of the students enter the program in the 6th grade and stay until college. The program helps students develop organizational and study skills, provides counseling and tutoring and –eventually - helps them navigate the financial aid and scholarship application process. The Talent Search grant will support 700 students from eight low-income schools in Greeley District 6.