Handling Everyday Life Problems for Students (HELPS) Program

The Handling Everyday Life Problems for Students (HELPS) Program provides grants to eligible students to support an emergency, without which continued persistence would be at moderate to high risk. An eligible student is a full or part time undergraduate student, majoring in any area of academic study, and attends one of the institutions below. An eligible student must submit an online application with justification of the emergency. An emergency is defined to be an unexpected, one-time expense, associated with the immediate risk to health, life, property, or student’s environment that requires urgent attention to prevent worsening of the situation or further instability of the student’s situation. Consistent with our emphasis on paying it forward, we are asking eligible students to participate in a study to collect data that will be used to expand the HELPS Program to other institutions and students. Participation in the longitudinal data study will not impact an eligible student’s ability to receive HELPS Program funding. The institutions below are part of a 3-year pilot, based on the generous philanthropy of our initial corporate sponsor - Prudential Financial. The emergency aid provided by the HELPS Program is supplemental to the institution’s current emergency aid. We recognize the financial hardships faced by our students exists beyond these institutions below, and we are continuously working with other financial supporters to expand the coverage to more institutions and their students based on the data collected from this pilot.

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Bowie State University
Karmalita Contee, PhD
Director Private Scholarships & Grants
acontee@bowiestate.edu
301-860-4333 (office)
*Apply through the Private Scholarships & Grants Office

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Morehouse College
Michael Turner
Director of Student Relations and Ombudsperson
michael.turner@morehouse.edu
*Apply through the Student Relations Office

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Prairie View A&M University
Student Affairs/Dean of Students
(936) 261-2130
https://www.pvamu.edu/sa/dean-of-students/emergency-assistance/
*Apply through the Student Affairs Office

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Xavier University of Louisiana
Judy Bracy
Senior Conduct Officer/Director of Parent Programs
jbracy@xula.edu