ASU Bridging Success: Emergency Fund

Thanks to your support, we reached our goal and have created an emergency fund for our students. This enables us to increased resources to meet these foster youth’s needs. Though our crowdfunding campaign is complete, you can still support our work here: http://asufoundation.org/bridgingsuccessemergencyfund

Imagine you’re in class, but you can’t pay for your books - where do you turn? Maybe you’re sick, but don’t have the money to go see a doctor - where can you get help? Many students who grew up in foster care don’t have the same support network as other students.

What is the issue the Bridging Success Emergency Fund is solving?

10% of former foster youth enroll in college, and only 3% graduate. Financial problems are the main reason for these dramatic statistics. The cost of college is more than just tuition. There are many other unplanned expenses that former foster youth may not be able to afford. Some unexpected expenses include:

• books
• housing costs
• dorm necessities
• food
• medical needs

Faced with these challenges, students may be forced to leave ASU without completing their degrees.

How/why is the Bridging Success Emergency Fund the solution?

Although there are federal and state programs to pay for tuition, currently there are limited options to help these students pay for remaining expenses when a problem occurs with a financial situation. Developing an emergency fund means ASU has increased resources to meet these students' needs.

Who are we?

We are a group of students from ASU's College of Public Service, working to make a difference for former foster youth who are attending ASU. What we raise will be given to ASU's Bridging Success program: a university program that seeks to enhance recruitment and retention of former foster youth at ASU: https://students.asu.edu/foster-youth/bridging-success