Bursary program for foster children celebrates its 10th year
by Riggs Zyrille Vergara, Publishing Editor
The Storwell Foster Children Bursary Program is now in its tenth year of providing a financial support of $2000 annually to students who were foster children in their post-secondary studies and career goals.
Storwell is a self-storage company focused on providing storage solutions across the Greater Toronto Area. But their bursary program provides help to all eligible students across Canada. According to Storwell, their motivation behind the program is to help foster children and youth gain access to educational opportunities in post-secondary schools that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
“For every 1,000 youths in Canadian foster care, only eight go on to graduate with a post-secondary education. One of the largest barriers to entry for children in foster care is the financial burden that comes along with post-secondary education. So the Storwell Foster Children Bursary is trying to ease that burden and offer a hand up so more foster children can pursue their education after high school.” Joseph Dinesh, the Strategic Communications Specialist of Storwell said.
According to Storwell, foster children are very close to the management’s heart and that they feel that they are a substantial group who commonly goes unrecognized. They also feel that there aren’t enough scholarships or bursary programs set up for foster children out there.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of children and youth have been identified as having experienced or being at risk of experiencing abuse and neglect. These children and youths often experience difficulties gaining access to adequate education opportunities, especially when it comes to post-secondary education.
According to the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, right now there are approximately 63,000 Canadian children living in permanent care with foster families, extended family, or in group homes.
The bursary application deadline is Sept. 1. Eligible students are those who have been a foster child with an official Canadian or American foster care program and agree to having the above organization verify the same. Students will have to be enrolled as a full-time student at a recognized general/ vocational College or post-secondary institution in Canada or USA as of September as well. They have to be Canadian or American Citizen or Permanent Resident and must be 24 years of age or less at the time of application. The application form for the bursary can be found at https://www.storwell.com/bursary-application.
