(L) Erin Lukoss, Executive Director/CEO, (R) Lisa Angelo, Provost at Bucks
Last updated: Wednesday, July 6, 2022 at 3:39 PM
(Newtown, PA) – Bucks County Community College (Bucks) and the Bucks County Opportunity Council (BCOC) are evolving their partnership to kickstart a new ‘Coaches on Campus’ initiative.
This collaboration will allow BCOC to integrate with Bucks’ Student Services division. BCOC’s Economic Self-Sufficiency (ES) coaches will be on the Newtown campus twice a week to offer coaching, financial support and resources to students who are already making strides to better their education and future stories.
“The key to gaining self-sufficiency is acquiring the additional education and training necessary to earn a living wage,” Erin Lukoss, BCOC’s Executive Director. “This partnership will allow BCOC staff to directly assist students by meeting them where they are. It is important for students to know that they have support from their school and their community.”
Part of the Bucks vision is to provide innovative paths that inspire educational, career, and personal fulfillment and BCOC is a key to helping our students realize their dreams and goals.
“At Bucks, we understand that some of our students face significant economic hardships that impact their ability to be successful as they pursue their degrees and academic goals,” Dekia Smith, Ed.D., LPC, Bucks’ Interim Dean of Students. “Having BCOC’s ES Coaches on campus, allows for our Student Services staff to make direct referrals right across the hall which greatly reduces barriers that would otherwise get in the way of Bucks students accessing community-based services.”
Previously, Bucks and BCOC have partnered together to raise funds for the Gateway to Self-Sufficiency Scholarship, open to Bucks students who have joined BCOC’s ES Program. More than 40 students have been awarded this scholarship with a 93% program completion/success rate.
The information above provides both organizations with the knowledge of what works to help those in need succeed, but separately the organizations are limited in their resources to help all who need the support. Therefore, the new Coaches on Campus initiative will bridge the gap in services being offered.
From left to right, Dr. Dekia Smith, Interim Dean of Students, Mary Finch, Senior Self-Sufficiency Coach, April Ettinger, Economic Self-Sufficiency Supervisor, Erin Lukoss, Executive Director/CEO, Christina McGinley, Executive Director of Bucks County Community College Foundation & Alumni Relationa & Lisa Angelo - Provost
As the lead anti-poverty, 501(c)(3) non-profit agency in Bucks County, the mission of BCOC is to reduce poverty, and partner with our community to promote economic self-sufficiency. For over 55 years, the Opportunity Council has served low-income families in Bucks County by helping them to stabilize when in crisis, garner resources to achieve a livable wage, gain additional education and training, and work towards economic self-sufficiency.
Bucks County Community College was founded in 1964 in response to a need for a public two-year collegiate institution to serve the County and its residents. Bucks County Community College provides a diverse community of learners with exemplary, accessible educational opportunities and the personal connections that foster success. To learn more about supporting the Coaches on Campus initiative or the Gateway to Self-Sufficiency Scholarship, please contact christina.mcginley@bucks.edu.