Earlier this month, San Francisco officials approved a grant to help a nonprofit send Filipino and other immigrant children to college, the nonprofit’s executive director has announced.
City officials are giving $100,000 to the West Bay Pilipino Multi Service Center, which says it’s the oldest Filipino American nonprofit in Northern California.
Next year, the money will be used to start a college preparatory program aimed at helping Filipino and other youth of color improve their SAT scores, obtain financial aid and scholarships and help families make informed choices about college.
“San Francisco’s move to invest in West Bay’s Pilipino’s college prep program will help address poverty not only in these youth’s families of origin, it will also help stop perpetuating the cycle of poverty in our community in the future,” said executive director Vivian Zalvidea Araullo.
In Filipino culture, a man or woman who gets a college degree is expected to help his or her immediate family out of poverty and get their own family started out on solid ground.
The high school dropout rate among Filipino children is among the highest in the city, the nonprofit says, citing a May 2014 study by the API Council.
Keith Burbank, Bay City News
