Hamilton Community Foundation recently announced almost $1.3 million in grants to programs that support students with an eye to increasing the likelihood they will continue their education beyond high school.

Twenty-eight grants were distributed to 25 organizations for programs that include literacy, math, recreation, digital learning and the arts. The funding comes from ABACUS, an HCF initiative launched in 2015 that focuses on students in the middle school years. In 2022, this expanded to include students in Grades 4 and 5 as well as students transitioning into high school in Grades 9 and 10.

Through ABACUS, the foundation works with local agencies to identify and reduce systemic barriers to post-secondary education, specifically student populations who face persistent and pervasive barriers in the education system.

Grants were distributed to fund 28 different programs including:

“Education is a huge indicator when it comes to poverty rates and health outcomes,” says Rudi Wallace, President & CEO at Hamilton Community Foundation. “ABACUS intervenes early at a crucial time in students lives. It supports local providers in a focused way so that they can give students what they need to succeed later in life.”