College Visions

College Visions: COVID-19 Response

Last Wednesday as colleges and universities across the country began closing, CV ramped up our COVID-19 response. This is an unprecedented situation and we have prioritized reaching out to our students to find out what they need from us in terms of financial assistance, planning help, and emotional support. These are the ways we are working now:

  • The CV office closed last Thursday. All staff are working from home and we are available by phone, email, and videoconference.
  • We are moving from in-person student meetings to virtual student meetings.
  • We are keeping our regular schedules of student check-ins, though virtually instead of in-person, in order to provide the structure we can all use right now.
  • We are assessing needs through individual outreach and by sending a survey in order to know who needs travel, lodging, food, tech, quiet study space, etc.
  • We are working to increase our Emergency Fund for students to meet the demand for food, housing, and technology (to access online instruction).
  • We are developing a plan to lend out CV equipment to students with tech needs.
  • We are sharing community and corporate resources with students. If you know of local and national resources for high school and college students, please share them with us!

CV’s main job right now is to listen to our students. We empathize with our students who are missing college visits, sports tournaments, performances, and internships and also navigating chaotic and scary situations. For students who have worked so hard to access education, the current loss of instructional time is distressing. We are offering information, resources, and techniques for managing fear and stress.

We are deeply concerned about the poor and working-class communities of color in which our work is rooted. The families we work with, and for some of us the families in which we live, were struggling before the pandemic. We know that lost jobs, lost wages, illness, and disrupted education hurt families and communities. We hope that in the coming weeks and months, you will join us in advocating for policies that help those most imperiled by this crisis.

Together we are strong and resilient. This is a time to hold each other up and we will do that. Many of you have given generous gifts to help CV students displaced from campus. Thank you so much for that support. The CV staff is so thankful that, with your help, we can meet the needs of our students. Every kind thing you do right now strengthens our shared community. Thank you for helping friends, relatives, neighbors, and strangers.

Tina Meetran, Acting Co-Director
tina@collegevisions.org

Moira Hinderer, Acting Co-Director
moira@collegevisions.org

PS: To read more about our efforts to raise funds to support CV students, please click this link: https://mailchi.mp/2c1f123f2f7e/please-help-low-income-college-students-displaced-by-covid-19

After-School Options for High School Students

You know that extracurricular activities boost college applications, build skills, and support social/emotional growth, but many students aren’t familiar with the rich landscape of out-of-school time activities. We’ve created a brochure about youth programming in urban Rhode Island!

Click here for a PDF version.

Copies for students and their families are available for pick-up at the CV office. Schools and Organizations interested in providing the brochure to youth you serve, please contact Joshua at joshua@collegevisions.org to make arrangements.

Meet CV Student: Sheila Bautista

Many first-generation students don’t have access to the essential college resources that are vital to their success and contribute to the acquisition of their college degree. With College Visions, low-income and first-gen students are able to go on college campus visits, learn how to write a resume, cover letter, and college essay, build a strong relationship with their advisor and more.

First-generation student, Sheila Bautista, attends the University of Rhode Island where she is currently studying political science and because of you and CV support she was able to secure an internship at Senator Jack Reed’s Office, giving her experience in her field!
[Read more…] about Meet CV Student: Sheila Bautista

Advising Undocumented Students in Rhode Island for College Access

Our mission at College Visions is to empower low-income and first-generation college-bound students to realize the promise of higher education by providing advising and resources to promote college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. College Visions advances equal access to educational opportunities in historically under-served communities.

At College Visions, we believe our work is an embodiment of our core values:
– Empathetic, compassionate, and transformative relationships drive strong organizations.
– Equity creates strong communities.
– In our community we honor the voice, agency, and identities of all.
– Success means reaching our goals through hard work, failure and growth.

We live and operate through these values daily within our two core programs, the College Access Program (CAP) and the Kolajo Paul Afolabi College Success Program (CSP).

The College Access Program provides the intensive, individualized advising that closes the gap between college aspirations and college enrollment for first-generation, low-income students. Students are provided with one-on-one admissions advising, college knowledge workshops, campus visits, family engagement opportunities, access to technology, financial aid coaching.

The College Success Program provides our college students and graduates of CAP with continued support through college. Students are provided with one-on-one coaching, college success workshops, connection with on-campus resources, transfer coaching, financial aid renewal assistance, and access to our emergency grant fund.

Both of our programs are free to our students and are supplemented with providing social-emotional support for our students. At College Visions, we understand that the journey to and through college can be met with many different challenges, as well as the great successes, especially for first-generation low-income students. We are proud to be a resource for our students, help them navigate through different challenges, and celebrate their accomplishments.

Tina Meetran
College Access Program Director
College Visions

CLICK HERE to download the guide: Advising Undocumented Students in Rhode Island for College Access, 2019-2020

The Beautiful Thing About Learning is That No One Can Take It Away From You

“As a first-generation college student, society has given us the social pressure of having to be successful at everything we do to show our worth. We pride ourselves in attaining the dreams and goals our parents set out for us to achieve. Our parents give us the building blocks to succeed, but it is up to us whether or not we want to be successful.”

[Read more…] about The Beautiful Thing About Learning is That No One Can Take It Away From You