HISTORY

Greater Steps Scholars (GSS), formerly the Charlotte Housing Authority Scholarship Fund, fights poverty by giving youth access to education. Our mission is to ensure that every child living in housing subsidized by INLIVIAN has the opportunity for the expectation of a college education.

GSS was designed to serve as a vehicle of hope for students – those under the age of 25 and living in INLIVIAN-managed residences – that have a desire to attend college or a technical/vocational school but lack financial means. In addition to offering up to five years of scholarships to our Scholars, our program also considers the entire picture of what a student needs to succeed. Through mentorship, focused workshops that teach career, financial and life skills; and activities that expose students to potential internship and career opportunities, we provide programming designed to inspire young people to work toward becoming independent and selfreliant citizens of the community. Nearly all of our Scholars are first-generation college students who have gone on to become successful attorneys, physicians, engineers, educators, entrepreneurs, and business executives.

Greater Steps Scholars History

OUR STORY BEGINS IN 1983 WHEN DR. JOHN CRAWFORD, A FORMER YOUTH SERVICES COORDINATOR AT INLIVIAN, WAS APPROACHED BY A YOUNG INLIVIAN

RESIDENT WHO NEEDED

$300 TO BE ABLE TO RETURN TO COLLEGE FOR HIS SENIOR YEAR.

Our story begins in 1983 when Dr. John Crawford, a former Youth Services Coordinator at INLIVIAN, was approached by a young INLIVIAN resident who needed $300 to be able to return to college for his senior year. Dr. Crawford could not imagine allowing this young man’s chances for a brighter future to be derailed – he himself had come from a family that was rich in spirit but struggled financially, so any opportunity to help someone in need was second nature. He and a friend pooled their resources and helped the student return to school and knew there were hundreds of other students who were residents of public housing and had the same limited financial resources.

This experience made it clear that this young man’s burden of limited financial resources was shared by hundreds of otherwise talented students who happened to be residents of public housing. As a result, Dr. Crawford decided to create Greater Steps Scholars to ensure that these youth could have a permanent source of support for their educational pursuits. With the help of several advisors and community members, Dr. Crawford and his colleagues raised $64,990 to establish

Greater Steps Scholars and assisted 16 students with funding for their college education in the fall of 1984 - officially launching GSS. Since 1984, GSS has awarded 1,000 scholarships totaling over $4.4 million in funds.

The work of GSS has been made possible through a dynamic partnership between Foundation For The Carolinas, the Greater Steps Scholars Advisory Board, and INLIVIAN. Funding for scholarships is made possible by contributions from individuals, churches, foundations, corporations, and other community groups. No federal, state, or county funds are received for scholarships.

Greater Steps Scholars have attended over 80 post-secondary institutions, including the University of North Carolina system schools, Johnson C. Smith University, Queens University of Charlotte, Winthrop University, Howard University, Spelman College, Wake Forest University, Duke University, and Central Piedmont Community College. Degrees earned include mechanical engineering, computer science, medicine, accounting, psychology, business management, and social work. 92% of recipients are first in their families to attend college.

With a 40-year legacy, John Crawford remains optimistic about the future of the scholarship fund and the continued success of its recipients. “Education is the key to positive life outcomes, especially for underserved kids,” he notes. “When I first wanted to start the scholarship fund, I remember being told that it was a nice idea but that I’d never get very far. Over the years, I have enjoyed proving the naysayers wrong.”