Grant will help Pittsburgh Promise students during coronavirus pandemic

The Richard King Mellon Foundation has approved a $1.3 million grant for the Pittsburgh Promise to help high school seniors and college students navigate the coronavirus pandemic.

Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril said Tuesday that the money would help Pittsburgh high school seniors complete college applications. It will also go to college-enrolled Promise scholars who need mental health counseling or funds to complete their educations because of the pandemic.

Ghubril said the organization plans to hire three temporary staffers to help address students’ needs.

“There’s no question that this will help greatly,” he said. “Under even the best of circumstances, a lot of our kids face challenges that are daunting and sometimes overwhelming. You multiply that by the current crisis and you have a potential recipe for kids’ lives to be derailed.”

The Promise provides college scholarships to city residents who attend Pittsburgh Public Schools from ninth grade through graduation and maintain a 2.5 grade-point average and a minimum 90% attendance record. Students receive up to $20,000 over four years and must attend post-secondary institutions in Pennsylvania.

In January, the R.K Mellon Foundation gave the Promise grants totaling $3.9 million to hire and train academic coaches for underachieving students.

The latest grant will help with such things as completing applications for college admission and financial aid, room deposits and dormitory needs, food, mental health services, and scholarships for students whose parents lost jobs because of the pandemic.

Ghubril said he believes at least 1,500 of 4,000 high school and college students funded through the Promise will need help. Students and families can apply for the Covid-19 Student Relief Fund through the Promise website.

“The thought of 1,500 wonderful young people, unable to go to college or go back to college because of this pandemic — that’s something we just weren’t willing to wait to address,” Sam Reiman, director of the R.K. Mellon Foundation, said in a statement.