Justamere Foundation awards $150K grant

The Justamere Foundation has awarded the Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation a $150,000 grant to support the Health Care Career Pathways project.

Funds will pay for scholarships for students in noncredit and credit health care programs and will support the alignment of pathways for students, especially those from marginalized groups, to access career and training opportunities that may have been previously out of reach.

The grant corresponds with a larger project that LCCC is participating in to develop a structured pathway from the noncredit nurse aide program into the credit degrees in practical nursing, medical assistant and health sciences.

Likewise, students in credit-based health care programs will have opportunities to add occupational credentials through noncredit classes. LCCC is part of the Noncredit and Credit Alignment Lab, a national consortium of 14 colleges working to streamline this pathway.

Training for entry-level jobs can quickly propel people in the workforce; however, they may miss opportunities to advance in their careers if programs to attain higher skills and certifications are unavailable or out of reach. The ability to stack credentials is part of this model and supports students to keep moving forward by supporting them with scholarships to make it possible.

Guided career pathways combining credit and noncredit instruction, academic planning and success coaching are vital for working students to have a chance to improve their lives through education.

Scholarships will be awarded beginning in the spring 2023 semester.

The Justamere Foundation, based in Exton, Chester County, supports projects that remove barriers that prevent working people from being fully self-sufficient. For information on the scholarship, contact Dr. Andrea Grannum-Mosley at agrannummosley@lccc.edu or 610-799-1083 or Jennifer Leach at jleach1@lccc.edu or 610-799-1669.