The City of New Haven along with congressional and state leaders are calling on students to complete their federal financial aid application.
On Friday a press conference was held at James Hillhouse High School to discuss how a local youth program is working with families to complete the form and the importance of getting it done.
"It's about an opportunity for CT students of all backgrounds to really to complete, the free application for federal student aid," Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D, 3rd District) said.
In the past year, the federal government made changes to the FAFSA application which caused a lot of confusion for students and families.
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To avoid the submission of FAFSA applications from decreasing further in the state, the Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Program secured a $158,000 grant through the Department of Education to help students complete the financial aid form.
Dr. Chaka Felder-McEntire, the founder and executive director of Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Program said families experienced a variety of challenges when the application went live in January.
"The system crashed every single day, the chat box was never available, the phones were never available, it was a pure nightmare.
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Felder-McEntire added the grant helped them to hire some counselors to work one-on-one with families in need of assistance.
“These are families who struggled with the form during the school year and felt defeated,” she said.
The program was awarded the grant in June and so far they have been able to assist 147 families out of the 500 identified.
Sultanya Hamid, a counselor with Higher Heights, spoke about her role with helping families whose first language may not be English.
"I'm specifically tasked with supporting those communities that may feel a little overlooked in some spaces simply because they don't speak the language that is prominent in that space,” Hamid said.
Speakers at the event included New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, U.S Senator Richard Blumenthal, Superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, Dr. Madeline Negron amongst other education leaders.
Students and families can seek assistance for the FAFSA application with Higher Heights through August 31.
For more information on how to schedule an appointment, click here.
