The new year is off to a good start for Calvin College's Pathways to Possibilities (P2P) program and its Entrada Scholars Program thanks to two large grants.
The school has just received a $250,000 grant (over two years) from the the Maryland-based VanLunen Foundation and a $200,000 grant (over four years) from the locally based Meijer Foundation. 
The two pledges will infuse Pathways and Entrada with $450,000 over the coming years.
Rhae Ann Booker, director of pre-college programs at Calvin, says the gifts are critical.
"They basically will allow for the continuation of Pathways and Entrada," she says. "Both of these Calvin initiatives have successfully led to the college enrollment of minority youth and youth who live in urban communities. For Pathways, 2004 marks the start of our eighth year. Longevity is important for college-community partnerships and this funding greatly assists Calvin in working with urban communities for the long-haul."
Pathways to Possibilities works closely with West Michigan with youth in grades four to twelve and especially targets those who live in the inner-cities of Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Holland, helping them to think seriously about education and especially to consider college as a possibility within their grasp rather than a distant dream.
The Entrada Scholars Program brings high school juniors and seniors of color to Calvin from around the continent for an intensive three-week college program that lets them take a first-year college course for credit, a powerful incentive to enroll and excel in college. It has had strong success in terms of getting high schools students to move on to college with a 96% success rate, something both Meijer and VanLunen resonated with in deciding to make their gifts.
"Calvin's Pathways to Possibilities program has a good track record of inspiring young people to set their sights on college," says Meijer vice-president Brian Breslin. "And that goal - getting and keeping young people excited about education - is something Meijer believes strongly in as well. The (Pathways) program works. But it needs financial support to continue. This gift from Meijer to Calvin was a natural partnership as together we work to encourage young people in West Michigan."
Jim Achterhof, managing director of the VanLunen Foundation, echoes Breslin. "Our Foundation," he says, "is interested in urban and minority projects and our emphasis is Christian education. Pathways has done a great job in these areas. And we want to make sure that good programs, like Pathways, that can be a model to others, can suceed."