Promise Gets 5‑Year Lift

Promise New Haven is in business for the long haul — with the help of a new $1.3 million five-year lifeline.

Patricia Melton — CEO of Promise, which offers 100 percent four-year tuition to New Haveners who attended public schools for 12 years and maintained a 3.0 high school GPA, then maintain a 2.0 college GPA — announced that $1.3 million grant Friday on an episode of WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven.”

The grant comes from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, which along with Yale University provided the founding support for the effort in 2010 and has served since as a key benefactor.

Yale funds most of the money for the scholarships themselves. CFGNH, which originally housed Promise until it spun off as its own organization, largely funds the day-to-day operations. This new grant means those operations are funded through the middle of this decade. Yale New Haven Hospital has also become a key Promise donor.

CFGNH CEO Will Ginsberg, appearing on ​“Dateline” with Melton, said the new five-year support fits into the foundation’s long-term ​“opportunity for all/ inclusive growth” strategy.

On the program, Melton spoke about the role Promise ​“scholars” will play in the community during the current covid-19 coronavirus crisis. Many Promise-supported students are the first members of their families to attend college. They all have computers and are experienced in navigating bureaucracies and other institutions. So now that they’re home during the covid-19 shelter-in-place phase, they are primed to help their families and neighbors navigate the online world to receive benefits and otherwise interact with society, Melton said.

“They are connected. They have the skills to be the conduit and the connector for their families,” Melton said.

Click on the video below to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven” with Patricia Melton and Will Ginsberg. (Note: You’ll need to skip ahead for the beginning of the program, as we’re still adjusting to the transition to remote radio production!) Click here to learn more about New Haven Promise.