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Grants at Work
Second chances are rare. The Reunion Center, a program of the Hampshire Educational Collaborative, offers individuals a second chance at achieving their educational goals.
The Center offers individualized tutoring programs in literacy, English as a Second Language, and the high school equivalency exam (GED). Students are varied—from a plumber who needs a GED certificate to obtain his professional license, to a parent who wants to help her children with homework, to a student like Melanie, a young woman who did not finish high school, but sees her future in a nursing degree.
| Recently, funding was abruptly eliminated mid-semester, and classes for twelve students were cancelled. Reunion Center classes resumed when the Distribution Committee at the Community Foundation awarded a grant from the Joan Walker Memorial Fund.
Mrs. Walker was the director of a nonprofit organization in western Massachusetts for 26 years, helping persons with disabilities achieve a better life. Each year, through the Community Foundation’s competitive grantmaking program, Joan Walker’s legacy continues to support the work of local nonprofits. The Joan Walker Memorial Fund provided Melanie and each of her fellow Reunion Center students with a second chance. |
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"If the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts did not provide funding at that critical time; there is no way that Melanie, Luanne, Lewis, Allison, and the other students would have completed their learning."
Barbara Cheney
Reunion Center Teacher |
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