- The Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program – established with a $500,000 gift from the John and Lyn Muse family of Dallas – will assist up to 100 individuals as they begin to recover and rebuild their lives in Dallas County. Recipients may choose to pursue an associate degree, elect to train in one of more than two dozen different job certification programs, pursue specific occupational training of six months or less, or redevelop their small businesses. (People who select an occupational training or business incubation option will receive instruction at the Bill Priest campus of El Centro College.)
- The Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program will support fully the costs incurred by recipients – including tuition, books and any laboratory or supply fees – that their certification program or degree plan might require.
- The goal of the Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program is to assist those Katrina evacuees who have chosen to stay and rebuild their lives in Dallas County. The courses and programs offered by the Dallas County Community College District will provide them with the necessary tools and knowledge to become educated and skilled citizens of their new community. In fall 2005, DCCCD and its foundation served more than 240 students who were displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- DCCCD’s El Centro College will administer the fund and offer centralized access to academic and workforce education classes that participants in the Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program need. In addition, free transportation to El Centro on DART is available to students who are enrolled for at least six credit hours or in a certificate program that requires at least 96 clock hours. (The college projects that all participants in the Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program will meet this requirement.)
- The program’s first phase involves recruiting students displaced by Hurricane Katrina who currently are enrolled at El Centro College or who are enrolled as a senior at one of the area high schools served by ECC. The primary objective is to provide the immediate needs of current ECC students who are Katrina evacuees; the secondary objective is to identify future students who can enroll for the 2006 Maymester term or for the summer and fall semesters. Those area high schools include Adamson, Booker T. Washington, James Madison, North Dallas, L.G. Pinkston, Roosevelt, B. Manns, Woodrow Wilson, Lincoln, Townview, ECC’s Middle College, Dallas Can! and Highland Park.
- The second phase of the program targets individuals who are seeking job training skills. After students complete their job training or occupational certification programs, they also will receive assistance with job placement.
- Funds from the Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program will be used to support: credit students (approximately 30); short-term job training participants (approximately 100); and case management and student support services for two years.
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For more information on how to help these individuals and others, call Betheny Reid, the DCCCD Foundation’s executive director, at (214) 860-2053. A $5,000 gift will provide a complete community college education (including books). Gifts in any amount to the DCCCD Foundation help change students’ lives.