Flourish Beaver County meets with community to discuss fundraising, to offer scholarships

CENTER TWP. ― A new community partnership hopes to revitalize Beaver County and support students' access to higher education in local neighborhoods.

On Aug. 30, members of Flourish Beaver County greeted the public at the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) to discuss their plans to help support workforce development, local education and preserve the culture of communities in Beaver County. As the group begins operations, they are currently focused on assisting younger residents with a variety of social and economic issues.

"We are made up of people from school districts, charter schools, law enforcement, nonprofit leaders, parents, teachers, union representatives, community-based organizations and higher education," said Roger Davis, president of CCBC and member of Flourish Beaver County. "It's a large plethora of people that are representing almost every industry possible in Beaver County. I think we chose those stakeholders strategically so that we can drive this fundamental expectation about not only student outcomes but the economic outcomes for Beaver County."

Actions from Flourish Beaver County will be focused on three "task forces," dividing efforts into smaller groups to focus on issues affecting young people in the county such as mental health, local academics and assistance in career paths or access to college. The group will work with local businesses, philanthropists and fundraisers to help invest in young people across the county and help disadvantaged families get access to these educational resources.

One of the first goals for the group will be establishing a last-dollar scholarship, which is awarded after state and federal grants to address the out-of-pocket costs of college for families. While the exact amount awarded through these scholarships has not been determined yet, organizers are hoping to raise $22 million for this program.

"We're trying to fill in the gap after the institution has provided aid," Davis said. "If you've gotten financial aid, if you've got state aid, then we're trying to just support that gap that exists between the full cost of tuition and the remaining cost."

The investment in young people in Beaver County comes as more people continue to leave the area for other opportunities, resulting in declining residency across the region and local neighborhoods. Members of Flourish Beaver County hope that by investing in families and young people around the region, the culture of Beaver County will serve as a draw and give many a reason to call the Beaver Valley their home.

"Beaver County's population has only grown one year out of the last 11," Davis said. "It's gone down, down, down, so we're looking for strategies to keep young people in this county. We want people to come back, we're looking for families to move to Beaver County. So, this is one of our tools. There's this Promise Scholarship for your child, so hopefully, you'll pick Beaver County as your resting place."

For those looking to get involved, the organization is continuing to look for volunteers for fundraising and local business partners hoping to support their mission. With the community's help, this new group of local leaders hopes to see the county "flourish" into a successful destination for families in western Pennsylvania.

"We're looking for volunteers and we're also looking for people who ultimately believe that they want to fund the scholarship and want to help Beaver County," Davis said. "I think that a lot of people in this county really want to see Beaver County thrive."

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Flourish Beaver County to offer scholarship, fundraising for goal