The Childhelp Ross Scholarship Fund was founded by Michael Ross, in partnership with Childhelp. The purpose of the CRSF is to assist students in attaining their educational goals, in order to meet their professional objectives and succeed to their fullest ability.
Below you can read Michael’s note explaining this wonderful scholarship:
“I have known, admired and respected the founders of Childhelp, Yvonne Fedderson and Sara O’Meara, for over 50 years. Their unwavering commitment to the philosophies and goals of Childhelp since its inception in 1959 has inspired me to be an enthusiastic supporter of Childhelp for many of those years. During that time, I’ve also been motivated by the extraordinary work of countless Childhelp staff and the courage and resiliency of the children who’ve passed through Childhelp’s doors.
Several years ago, I served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles City College Foundation alongside the former Executive Director of the Foundation, my good friend, David Ambroz. Among other things, David, a former foster child himself, told me that a seemingly small expense, such as the cost of bus fare to and from school, can sometimes be the determining factor for whether someone is able to attend secondary education.
That opened my eyes. And through discussions with David and many at Childhelp, I realized there was a huge hole in the system. As valuable and life changing as their Childhelp experience was, it was disheartening to see how many alumni who’d aged out of the foster care system, were unprepared to advance to higher education due to a lack of appropriate guidance, third party support and/or financial resources.
To help address this and with the support of Sara and Yvonne and others at Childhelp, I established the Childhelp Ross Scholarship Fund (“CRSF”).
I’ve met with and heard the life stories of a number of potential scholarship recipients. Without a doubt, these meetings have been among the most meaningful and powerful meetings of my life. Despite often tragic early lives, these individuals’ perseverance and optimism today is nothing short of miraculous. Many of them even speak about looking forward to helping other foster kids in the future as they’ve been helped.
Scholarship awards have already been granted to worthy recipients for a range of items, including tuition, computers, books and living expenses. Details about scholarship guidelines and the application process may be found by clicking the Guidelines and Application buttons above.
I hope you will be moved to support the CRSF, a vehicle which is proving to be a vital resource to many deserving individuals who’ve been profoundly transformed and lovingly guided by Childhelp.
Thank you.”
– Michael Ross
Please submit completed application via online by clicking the Application button or click here to download the application and submit by email to cmelvin@childhelp.org, or mail to:
Childhelp Inc.
Attn: Cheridan Melvin
6730 North Scottsdale Road, Suite 150
Scottsdale, AZ 85253