“If I had never received the New Futures Scholarship I probably would not be attending college, really, and I would have never met all of the great people that I now have in my life such as my colleagues at work and the other students at the school. Because I’m in college, I have been able to hold really good jobs.”- Keith Hines.

New Futures Scholarships (formerly called the Allen Gould Scholarships) enable highly- motivated young people from low-income families to realize their dreams of going to college or attending shorter non-college certification programs.

New Futures partners with LAYC and other community organizations, such as Covenant House and For the Love of Children.  The community organizations nominate youth for the New Futures Scholarship, while also mentoring, supporting and monitoring the young people throughout their post-secondary education.

Through The Next Step and YouthBuild Public Charter schools, Upward Bound and its other educational and social programs, LAYC works with youth interested in continuing their education and helps them to obtain financial assistance necessary to pay for post-secondary education.

How New Futures Works

New Futures supports young people pursuing a wide range of education goals, including professional accreditation, community college, and four-year college.

1) New Futures finances up to 90%, up to $10,000, towards non-college professional certification programs and vocational training.  Some of the fields pursued by students include: computer science, medical technology, nursing, cosmetology and culinary arts.

2) New Futures also grants financial aid of $1,000 - $1,200 per semester for students pursuing college education, to fill the gap that remains after Pell grants, student loans and other financial aid sources have been exhausted.

Students pursuing their high school diploma or GED are eligible to be nominated for a New Futures Scholarship.

“My dream was always to become a nurse.  Without the scholarship, I would never have been able to afford Sanz School.  As a result, I’ve been a medical assistant for the last two years now and I am enrolling in UDC’s nursing program.” - Flor Carranza

Recent Scholarship Winners

In the fall of 2006, ten New Futures scholarships were awarded, with five going to LAYC participants.  Congratulations to Johnese McFail, Oscar Jovel, Egnis Contreras, Ruben Velasquez, and Michael Ludgardo from LAYC.

Significant Impact

Along with the LAYC, several community organizations work with New Futures to help low-income young people access the financial support available through New Futures so that these motivated students can pursue their educational goals.

So far, New Futures has helped finance the post-secondary education of nearly 100 low-income young people.  Scholarship awards to date total more nearly $800,000.

“With the scholarship money, I was able to get more than five computer certifications that helped land me the job I have now.  I am the network administrator at the Neighbor’s Consejo outreach agency, and I’m in charge of their entire networking system.”-Lizandro Diaz

To Learn More about the New Futures Scholarship

Check out the website: newfuturesdc.org

Or please contact:

Monica Fernandez
(202) 319-2271
monicaf@layc-dc.org