WHAT IS THE H.O.P.E. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM?
(Helping Other People Excel)

The H.O.P.E. Scholarship Program is a crime prevention and education initiative in cooperation with the Lansing Police Department, Lansing Community College, Michigan State University, Lansing School District, and City of Lansing in cooperation with local businesses and private citizens.

The H.O.P.E. Scholarship Program offers Lansing School District youth an opportunity for a college education and a brighter future. Students are initiated into the program as sixth graders. Students promise to finish high school in exchange for two free years of tuition at Lansing Community College. The students are chosen by their school, based on their ability to utilize the program.

The H.O.P.E. Scholarship was developed in order to assist Lansing School District youth in their commitment to graduate from high school and go to college. When Chief Mark Alley was appointed by Mayor David Hollister just a few years ago, he instructed his staff to develop youth crime prevention initiatives. Out of numerous ideas that were tabled, Chief Alley identified a program in the Jackson area currently in use called CARE (Concerned Adults Responding Early). Taking the concepts used in the CARE program and modifying the ideas to fit the City of Lansing, the H.O.P.E. Scholarship Program was formed. Chief Mark Alley working with Mayor David C. Hollister, Dr. E. Sharon Banks of the Lansing School District, and President Paula D. Cunningham of Lansing Community College formed this scholarship. This dedicated team worked together to introduce what we now know as the H.O.P.E. Scholarship Program.

The Power of Partnerships working for our children!