Bravo Programs of America Inc

BPA was founded to help former foster care youth, aged 18 through 24, achieve their post-secondary education goals.

Our primary strategy is to award scholarships and book stipends to eligible students who are enrolled in an accredited post-secondary institution and have good academic standing.

Secondarily, we run a mentor program to help ensure our students get the support they need to stay in school and graduate.

We work closely with social workers at universities, community colleges, and other foster care related nonprofits for student referrals.

We rely on fundraisers, solicitations, grants, and donations from companies and private individuals to fund our scholarship program.

We solicit volunteers from the community to staff our mentor program.

Since 2014, Bravo Programs of America has been fundraising and awarding scholarships to deserving foster youth. As of the end of 2019 we have awarded in excess of $155k in scholarships and book stipends to 42 students. The following summarizes where these young adults stand in reaching their educational goal:
- 4 have attained their Associates Degree or Technical Certification.
- 14 have earned their Bachelors Degree. Of these, 2 are currently pursuing a Masters Degree.
- 14 are on track to attain their Bachelors Degree by age 26.
- 4 have dropped out of school or did not graduate by age 26.
- 6 are those we have lost touch with and their graduation status is unknow.
We are proud of these results. Nationally, about 3% of foster care alumni earn a 4 year degree by age 26. To date, 33% of our students have, and 35% more are on track to do so!

We are fiscally responsible. We are an all volunteer organization, and direct 97% of all monies raised to our students. And 86% of monies awarded to date have gone to students who have reached their educational goals or are on track to do so. Of course, we would like this number to be 100%, and this is part of the reason we have recently added a mentoring program to our service offerings. Through our mentor program we strive to ensure our students get the support they need to stay in school and graduate.

We also know that college isn't for everybody. In 2019 we established a partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors of South East Michigan, who will work with us to provide 2 scholarships a year to the South East Michigan Construction Academy.