gmhTODAY Spring 2023 | Page 26

South County Cal-SOAP Consortium

Nonprofit spotlight : by Erin Gemar

The California Student Opportunity and Access Program ( Cal-SOAP ) is a statewide program established in 1978 , designed to increase the number of students attending college . This pre-college program serves elementary , middle , high school , and college students who are from low-income families , the first in their family to attend college , or from schools with low eligibility / college participation rates .

South County Cal-SOAP Consortium ( SCCC ) was established in October of 2003 by the current director Erin C . Gemar and serves four local school districts from Morgan Hill to as far south as Hollister ; including families from Rebekah ’ s Children ’ s Services ( RCS ) in Gilroy , CA . Within the first year of the Project , SCCC expanded to 12 schools in 4 districts . In 2020 , South County Cal-SOAP changed fiscal agents and joined the Rebekah Children ’ s Services family . SCCC staff provide college , career , and financial aid-related services on 20 school campuses , including the RCS Gilroy campus , where our new College Access Center is now located , and open to the community ! While all students and families are welcome to access Cal-SOAP services , 11th and 12th graders are especially encouraged to utilize our office hours :
M : 12-5 ; T : 8-8 ; W-Sat : by appt . southcountycalsoap @ gmail . com 408.846.2484
The SCCC team currently offers empowering college access programs at strategic grade levels within the K-12 community . These programs and activities include :
• College & Financial Aid Application Completion support ( including Parent workshops )
• In-Class and After School Academic Mentoring
• College & Career advisement for Middle and High school students
• College Tours ( both virtual & in-person )
• Summer Programs for 6th , 9th , and 12th graders
• College : Making it Happen ( CMIH ), a college awareness program for 7th & 8th graders
• I ’ m Going to College ( IGTC ), a pre-college awareness program for 5th graders
• Employment opportunities for current college students
While serving underrepresented youth and hard-to-reach families , our team offers college knowledge , access , and pathways into the higher education systems . As a member of the Rebekah Children ’ s Services Family , we are committed to seeing all individuals in our community flourish , by building pathways to hope , happiness , and well-being . SCCC ’ s mission is to create educated communities one unrepresented student at a time .
2023 marks South County Cal-SOAP ' s 20th year serving our South Bay community . It has been a tremendous honor to work with students , families , and educators throughout the past 20 years to help create a college-going culture in the schools we serve and serve their communities in a positive way .
In 2023 , South County Cal-SOAP had 39 High School Seniors apply to our annual Scholarship . We are excited to announce the scholarship winners in May and will invite outstanding awardees to our annual Alumnight celebration on June 22nd , 2023 at Little Uvas Vineyard ( LUV ) Winery in San Martin . Our annual fundraiser will include mariachi music , food , wine , raffles , and a wine pull . All donations during our AlumNight event go towards next year ’ s scholarship fund .
We look forward to the next twenty years and hope to see our community members at AlumNight on June 22nd , 2023 ! ( Tickets will be on sale in April !)
26 SPRING 2023 gmhTODAY Magazine gmhtoday . com