NRCC News

NRCC receives grant to support parent students

Dec 10 2024

New River Community College will receive $10,000 to support its College Attainment for Parent Students (CAPS) program, thanks to a generous donation from the Truist Charitable Fund.

“Strengthening our support for parent students through the CAPS program has been truly rewarding. The impact of the Truist Charitable Fund reaches beyond the students and touches the lives of their children,” said Dr. Dee Dee Kennedy, NRCC dean of student services. “This donation helps to support parent students with non-academic and emergency needs, which is helping to propel them to degree and credential attainment. As these hard-working students succeed, their lives and those of their children are forever changed.”

Nationally, one in five students is a parenting student, many with children requiring childcare. The CAPS program was created to expand Virginia’s talent pipeline and ensure parent students have access to education as well as critical resources to help them succeed. Funding will help parent students offset the cost of childcare and unexpected expenses, provide learning materials to their children, and create more family-friendly campuses.

“We are deeply grateful for the support of the Truist Charitable Fund for the CAPS program,” said Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) Director of Community Engagement Anne Rogers. “With this funding, we can help even more students achieve their educational goals, build brighter futures for their families, and ultimately contribute to the success of our communities.”

The CAPS program is being piloted at five of Virginia’s 23 community colleges including Brightpoint, Central Virginia, Germanna, New River, and Tidewater.

“As I meet with business owners across the Commonwealth of Virginia, workforce development is top of mind. The CAPS program is critical to this effort as it provides important resources to parents who are attending five of our great 23 community colleges to gain the skills that match today’s job opportunities,” said Thomas Ransom, Truist’s Virginia regional president. “Our purpose at Truist is to build better lives and communities, and we’re proud to help VFCCE support parent students in joining the workforce.”

You can learn more about the CAPS program at the following URL:  https://vfcce.org/our-priorities/college-attainment-for-parent-students-caps/

About The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education

The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) is a supporting arm of Virginia’s 23 community colleges. It works to broaden educational access, promote student success, and provide innovative solutions to workforce needs. To ensure access to high quality, affordable education, the VFCCE provides statewide leadership in raising funds for community college education, supplementing the activities of the 23 individual colleges, and advocating for major system-wide initiatives that could not be undertaken by any single college. For more information, visit https://vfcce.org/.

About Truist Charitable Fund

The Truist Charitable Fund (TCF) is committed to Truist Financial Corporation’s (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives. TCF was established as a donor-advised fund and is administered by The Winston-Salem Foundation. TCF invests in local community organizations, focusing on grants that support initiatives and programs in the areas of educational equity, leadership development and essential community services. To learn more about Truist’s purpose, visit https://www.truist.com/who-we-are/about-truist.