Emergency fund helps Contra Costa College students

At first it seemed like a normal morning for Contra Costa College student Mia Korey as she prepared for a busy day on a Monday in November. But when she hopped into her car and turned the key, she heard an ominous sound.

For many people, an auto breakdown is a mere inconvenience, but for Korey, a 53-year-old single mother of two working two jobs while attending classes and inching her way toward a better life, it was possibly a disaster.

“There was no way I could have paid for the repairs,” said Korey, who lives in Richmond’s North and East neighborhood. “I might have had to drop out of school.”

But thankfully the Contra Costa College Foundation, which for 55 years has been a nonprofit arm of the 75-year-old college, is here to help students such as Korey achieve their dreams.

Korey was able to receive money from the foundation’s Wrap-Around Fund, which is meant for such emergencies. The foundation also offers scholarships and a Program Innovation Fund. The innovation fund totaled $145,000 in 2023 and paid for improvements at the college, including soundproofing of the tutoring area and a symposium for African American students.

The Wrap-Around Fund awarded $38,220 to 77 students in 2023; $288,000 in scholarships were also given out that year.

The Wrap-Around Fund and the scholarships help students avoid being saddled with sometimes-crippling student loan debt.

The Wrap-Around Fund is for immediate needs such as childcare, an unexpected rent increase, groceries or, as in Korey’s case, transportation.

Any student at the college can apply, as long as they are referred by a faculty or staff member and enrolled at least part-time that semester. The grants offer up to $500. Students typically get the money in about a week. 

“I had a check in my hand five business days after I applied,” Korey said. “I got it just in time to pay for the car repairs.”

Now Korey works for the U.S. Census part-time and also has a job at the Student Services Center on campus, helping fellow students. The jobs barely cover expenses for her and her two children, an 18-year-old son and her 8-year-old daughter.

Like the Wrap-Around funds, the scholarships are awarded to individual students. The amounts vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Scholarship funds are usually awarded on a competitive or special criteria basis, such as GPA, academic major, or demonstrated volunteerism, leadership, or community service, as well as need. 

Applications will open Nov. 1 for the 2025-26 school year.. Information is available at the Financial Aid office.

“The scholarships are all donor dollars donated generously by community members,” Marcellino said. The donors live in Richmond and San Pablo, and often their names are on the scholarships. Donors can create their own scholarships or donate to existing scholarships.

“These are people who care about making their community a better place,” she said. 

A friend’s death showed Korey what she was capable of

There are about 7,000 students at Contra Costa College, and 85 percent of them come from low- or lower-middle income households. Also, 38 percent are the first in their families to go to college.

Like Korey, these students are vulnerable to financial crises and typically don’t get much financial support from their families. So, financial hardship is one of the most common reasons students drop out.

Marcellino said almost 90 percent of the students who receive Wrap-Around funds complete the semester.

In Korey’s case, she completed the semester and went on to greater successes despite some steep odds against her. 

Her challenges started in 2014, when she received devastating news: Her best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Around the same time, she became pregnant. She was 45.

“I never thought I could take care of someone who was dying,” she said. But her friend needed her, and she tended him almost until the day he died.

“He died the same month I had the baby. We were in separate hospitals texting,” she said.

As wrenching as the experience was, it showed her that she was capable of far more than she had realized. 

She decided to pursue a nursing job, signing up for one class at Contra Costa College online.

“I was scared to do it,” she said.

At the end of the semester, she had an “A,” and a new purpose in life.

She signed up for in-person classes and received $7,000 in scholarships from the foundation.

Now she has a pre-allied health certificate that will help prepare her for further education in fields such as nursing, an associate of arts degree in liberal arts or an associate’s degree in public health. She is transferring to Cal State East Bay this fall.

She is considering a career as a radiology technician and continuing to try to get into nursing school, though it’s highly competitive.

“I have lots of options,” she said, options including more high-paying and satisfying jobs, as well as continued higher education, thanks in no small part to the college and the Contra Costa Foundation.