SAF Grants Over $221,000 to Montana Organizations

(Helena) Student Assistance Foundation (SAF), a Montana nonprofit, recently announced its 2006 Complementary Mission Grant awards. Grant recipients are Montana organizations that share, support, and/or complement SAF’s mission to provide students with the knowledge and tools to finance and pursue their postsecondary education.

“Access and success after high school takes many forms, and we’re honored to work with such talented individuals and organizations that are making a huge difference to Montana students,” said Jim Stipcich, president of SAF. “This pool of grantees reflects efforts taking place all across Montana to help students succeed.”

The grants vary in amount and scope. "Our program is a unique curriculum tailored for rural Montana high school students and we fund it via donations. The grant we received from the Student Assistance Foundation played a key role in our success this past year and for this we are enormously grateful," said Peter Rosten, president/teacher, Media Arts in the Public Schools (MAPS).

SAF funded the following 13 programs for 2006:

Holy Rosary Healthcare (Miles City)
$25,000
Medical Explorers program for high school and post-secondary students.

$AFE – Student Advocates for Financial Education (Bozeman
$25,000
Continued sponsorship of program to help MSU students with financial management.

Women’s Opportunity and Resource Development (WORD) (Missoula)
$22,500
Bridges to Learning Project for 50-60 teen parents who have dropped out or are at-risk of dropping out of school.

O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West (Missoula)
$40,000
Indian Nations Student Leadership Program.

MSU College of Nursing (Bozeman)
$15,000
Caring for our Own Bridge Program to improve access for Native American students to education programs in health care.

Media Arts in the Public Schools (Stevensville)
$15,000
Continuation & expansion of MAPS – Communication/Media experiential learning program for rural schools, serving middle & high school students

UM Western (Dillon)
$15,000
Academic/tutoring support center for students at UM Western

Young Parents Education Center (Great Falls)
$9,652
Assisting teen and young adult parents with transition and success in postsecondary education

Webwriters – MSU Great Falls/OCHE (Great Falls & Helena)
$6,000
Continued sponsorship of online writing assessment program

Granite County Center Foundation (Philipsburg)
$4,000
Dual credit program for Granite County High School

Montana Law Enforcement Academy (Helena)
$3,900
Direct entry to MT Law Enforcement Academy for one student.

Career Training Institute (Helena)
$15,000
Case management and supportive services for low-income students enrolled in nursing programs at UM Helena.

Office of Community Service, Governor’s Office (Helena)$25,000
Matching funds for community service scholarship awards.

TOTAL = $221,052

SAF focuses its Complementary Mission Grant program on supporting activities in the following areas:
• Student and parent outreach and education on financial preparation, career choices, and college preparedness
• Preparing students for Montana’s workforce
• Support and outreach for the financial aid and education communities

The 2007 grant cycle will be announced in the fall.

Contact:
Jeannie Huntley, Marketing & Communications Director
Student Assistance Foundation
406.495.7394