College of St. Joseph

The Hilda & Preston Davis Foundation of Greenwich, CT has awarded a $20,000 grant to College of St. Joseph to support its STEPS program (Students Taking an Effective Path toward Success). CSJ launched the STEPS program last fall to help youth in Vermont State custody transition to higher education and, presently, six young Vermonters have entered the college through this program. The program will provide these students with year-round room and board, enhanced financial aid, and an array of counseling services geared toward supporting student success. Given the number of foster youth in Vermont who could benefit from this opportunity and the uniqueness of the CSJ model, foundations in state and out of state have offered financial support to the college to cover a variety of start up expenses including scholarship assistance to eligible Vermont youth.

Dr. Frank Miglorie, president of the college and designer of the program, says, “The STEPS program supports the belief that all young people, regardless of their personal circumstances, should be given the chance to develop into confident, healthy and upstanding adults who can be productive in society and inspirational to others. As the designer of this program, it is affirming to receive support from Vermont-based foundations who appreciate the importance of this program to a growing number of youth in Vermont. It is especially gratifying to see that, in the case of the Hilda & Preston Davis Foundation of Connecticut, foundations outside of Vermont are beginning to notice the significance and uniqueness of STEPS and its service to foster youth.”

The program at CSJ is the first of its kind in New England, and the hope is that with its success, other states will use it as a model that can be replicated to better serve the needs of foster youth throughout the nation.

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