The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF), the Ypsilanti Area Community Fund (YACF), and Bank of Ann Arbor have announced that they're partnering to expand an existing scholarship benefiting low-income, minority, or first-generation college students graduating from Ypsilanti Community Schools (YCS).

An event announcing the extension of the Mary Williams Gillenwater Scholarship and a separate partnership between YCS and the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR) was held Tuesday evening at the Eagle Crest Resort and Golf Club, 1275 S. Huron in Ypsi Township. The event was sponsored by Bank of Ann Arbor.

Shelley Strickland, vice president for development at the AAACF, announced the Gillenwater Scholarship's inclusion into the AAACF Community Scholarship Program. The scholarship is named after a late Ypsi resident, Mary Williams Gillenwater, whose estate has provided the opportunity for YCS high school students to pursue a college education.

The assets of the Gillenwater Trust are available for the scholarship in perpetuity and will now be managed by Bank of Ann Arbor. The scholarship will now also be supported by donors who are able to make contributions to the new Gillenwater Legacy Fund. YACF co-chair Greg Peoples announced that an anonymous donor has contributed $10,000 to the fund and agreed to a dollar-for-dollar match of up to an additional $10,000. Multi-year scholarships will now also be available through the program for the first time, and a college success coach will be available to scholarship recipients.

"As a professional educator, I know through research that there's nothing stronger to help students succeed than partnerships with nonprofit organizations," Peoples said. "Our local schools need the public, the private, and the nonprofit sector to collaborate to help our students succeed."

NAAAHR founder and chairman Nathaniel "Nat" Alston also spoke at the event about his organization's partnership with YCS as a result of NAAAHR's decision to bring its national conference to the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest in late September 2018. Alston decided to support YCS by lending the organization's time and talent after meeting with superintendent Ben Edmondson in September.

"After listening to Dr. Edmondson and his vision for Ypsilanti schools, I said to our board, 'We have got to get involved,'" Alston said.

NAAAHR will provide pro bono services to YCS in helping the district adapt educational best practices from Howard County, Md.'s highly ranked public school system. Other collaborations between the two organizations are expected as the relatively new partnership develops.

Brianna Kelly is the project manager for On the Ground Ypsi and an Ypsilanti resident. She has worked for The Associated Press and has freelanced for The Detroit News and Crain's Detroit Business.

Photos courtesy of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.