by Christine Trudeau
The American Indian Graduate Center has distributed over of emergency relief funds for students facing financial distress amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
When schools started shutting down back in March, the American Indian Graduate Center began a designated Student Emergency Fund, outside of their initial awarded scholarship dollars. Executive Director Angelique Albert said the fund has raised almost a quarter of a million dollars – of that $142,000 has already been distributed to 91 students so far.
“It comes down to student emergency needs,” Albert said. “They are no longer on campuses, so they are no longer in the dorms, so they have housing needs, they have food needs, and we’re having to respond to make sure that they can just say in college.”
In addition to housing and food, the money also helped cover student utility bills, emergency travel costs, and household items. AIGC says they’re grateful for support to the emergency relief fund, that came from the NDN Collective, Wells Fargo, and an online auction held by their Board Vice President, Walter Lamar.
This story is a collaboration with National Native News and the Solutions Journalism Network
