Believe it or not, Advance! is almost 20 years old! Twenty years serving students and families who have no prior experience with college. This remarkable story has been written with the support from so many people who believe in our mission to provide a road to college for first-
generation, mainly low-income young people.
Despite the Advance! office being closed since March 2020, we enjoyed a remarkable 2020-21 school year. We served 999 people, 480 with online counseling appointments, and 427 parents, many of whom attended our new “Parent University” college awareness workshops. We conducted 61 online presentations/workshops, using creative videos and power points.
At the end of the 2020-21 school year, we presented 28 college scholarships, 22 of them for La Habra and Sonora graduating seniors. They range from $500 to $2000. All scholarship monies come from generous donations, i.e., none come out of the organization’s operating budget. Since 2005 Advance! has awarded approximately 280 scholarships to deserving young people graduating from our local high schools.
Even after the Advance! office re-opens later in August, we will continue to serve students and parents virtually (online). This will allow us to reach those at some distance from the office as well as those who prefer to receive our services at home. All those coming to the office will be required to wear masks. We will have them available.
WE HAVE MOVED!. After many years in the Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) medical facility, we are now located in the Lambert-Palm Professional Building at 1901 East Lambert, Suite 107, on the northwest corner of Lambert and Palm just south of Sonora HS.
Upon reopening, Advance!’s new hours will be Mondays through Thursdays, 4:30-7:30 pm.
Here’s some BIG NEWS! Advance! has been invited to collaborate with Project Access’s “College Quest”, a nationwide program that helps low-income young people prepare for a college education. Our involvement will take place only within California. The details of this arrangement will be worked out soon. Our website will contain those details.
“La Habra Goes to College” continues to be Advance!’s signature annual event. It is scheduled for Sunday, September 19, and will once again be conducted virtually since the Covid pandemic is still a concern.
Advance! is now active on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In.
Looking ahead to the 2021-22 school year, we are excited about the opportunity to continue serving students at La Habra and Sonora High Schools while extending our services to the other four schools in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. In addition, we will continue to welcome students and families from Anaheim, Buena Park, Santa Ana, and
Whittier.
For those of you who have been supporting us since we opened in 2002, we are deeply grateful. Your support has sustained us as we have grown from helping 50-60 students a year to now serving several hundred annually, more than 8,000 since that first year.
We invite you to join us in our continuing effort to help students realize their dream of a college education. Students we serve report that without Advance!’s assistance they probably wouldn’t have been able to navigate through the daunting college admissions and financial aid application procedures.
All of Advance!’s services remain free of charge!
With gratitude,
The Advance! Staff and Board of Directors
562-691-2117
