Northwell Health awarded 72 scholarships last June through its Community Scholars program, a five-year, $5 million effort helping underserved youth go to community college.
The initiative currently focuses on students from Suffolk and Nassau counties but will eventually include Westchester and the boroughs of Manhattan, Staten Island and Queens.
The 72 awardees were the first recipients of the scholarship program. Each student received $19,000 to help pay for tuition, books, food, transportation and other needs for college, such as laptops or notebooks.
“Being raised in a household that’s less fortunate economically is highly stressful,” said Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President of Community and Population Health at Northwell Health. “We know that can lead to mental health issues and higher prevalence of chronic conditions. We must break that cycle.”
The awarded students also have access to a bilingual program manager to help with task like registering for classes or troubleshooting technology.
