Columbia College Chicago launches first scholarship for students who experienced foster care

Columbia College Chicago is now the first private college in Illinois to offer free tuition and wraparound support to students who have experienced foster care.

For one student and one college leader, this opportunity is bringing two remarkably similar journeys together.

For 18-year-old Kamyrrah Mobley, after moving in and out of foster care since age 6, she never imagined that one day she'd be headed to college.

"When it got presented it to me, I'm like, 'Oh, wow, this is beautiful,'" she said.

Kamyrrah, who lives in Bloomington, Illinois, is the first student to get accepted into the school's new Youth in Care Scholarship.

What would she tell her 6-year-old self?

"Your journey is beautiful, and your past does not define you, neither does your environment, and you accomplishing great things," she said.

The college has signed an agreement to provide free education with CASA of Cook County, an advocacy organization supporting kids in the foster care system, created in part by Amber Kirk.

Kirk, CASA's chief deputy of operations and child programs, said this new partnership will cover tuition and a team dedicated to helping students like Kamyrrah not just get into college, but graduate.

"It's giving students that need a little bit more from foster care a little more support and development to say, 'We believe that you are just as valuable and that you can cross the finish line,'" Kirk said.

Columbia also had a surprise for Kamyrrah, as the college's senior vice president for enrollment strategy and student success, Dr. Emmanuel Lalande, welcomed her to campus.

Lalande understands her journey better than almost anyone. He also grew up in foster care.

"When you talk about your 6-year-old self and my 5-year-old self, one thing I want to say to you is it gets better, alright? Give yourself grace. Keep pushing through," he said.

For Lalande, the scholarship is about making sure a child's past doesn't determine their future.

For Kamyrrah, for the first time, home isn't a place she's leaving, it's the future she's finally arriving at.

"I feel like from being a youth in care, that's all you really do want," she said. "That's all you really want to feel – it's just like home."

CASA of Cook County is hosting a city trunk party on Sunday to help provide dorm essentials for students like Kamyrrah. To donate to the trunk party, visit casacookcounty.org/trunk