From School to College

A CHAC Initiative Promoting Higher Education

The Chambersburg Hispanic American Center (CHAC) is a nonprofit organization offering information, referral and case management services to low-income adults, with a particular emphasis on underserved Hispanics/Latinos. Most of CHAC’s clients are low-income Latinos who know very little about higher education in the U.S. Often they themselves have left school at an early age and have no personal experience with an articulated system of education that can take a child from pre-school through college.

To get ahead in life, most of CHAC’s clients work - work - work rather than pursue educational opportunities. CHAC expects to partner with schools, colleges, churches, libraries, businesses and community organizations to reach out to Latino parents and children in order to raise their awareness of the importance of education, in general, and higher education, in particular. Our clients need to learn how to help their children prepare for school, what it takes to succeed in school, and how to gain access to higher education to gain opportunities in the complex process of applying to colleges and universities.

CHAC recognizes its clients often face significant economic, social, academic and cultural barriers to education. Yet, we believe CHAC must be part of a broad network that finds ways and means of addressing these issues. If indeed “it takes a village to raise a child,” CHAC is certainly part of that “village.”  We have access and credibility with Latino residents in Chambersburg. Hundreds of Latino adults come to our office each year to find assistance with respect to employment, housing, legal and medical, social  and translation services.

A coalition has been formed to advance this educational initiative. Members of the coalition include CHAC, the Chambersburg Area School District (CASD), the Franklin County Library System (FCLS), Harrisburg Area Community College-Gettysburg Campus (HACC), The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), Shippensburg University and Wilson College.